Didn't I Tell You
by becstothefecsio
Summary: Beca Mitchell didn't want to get involved with boys while in high school for a handful of reasons until a certain boy slowly changes her mind. T for language and sexual references. Jeca fic.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN:** I don't know if there will be more to this than this chapter. I ran into a friend from when I was like 12 on campus. It was weird and great. It sparked up an idea for a story and I tried to write it down. Hit me up with your thoughts and let me know what you think. Peace out._

* * *

 _This blows_ —Beca thought to herself as she sunk into her seat in the movie theater while a movie she had long lost interest in played in front of her. She rolled her eyes when her date, Jacob Douglas, put his hand over hers. Her best friend Chloe made her go out with him because who turns down the school's cutest quarterback? Well, Beca wouldn't be at movies watching a _stupid_ rom-com with jock, who spent more time talking about himself and his scholarship than trying to get to know her better, if she had a choice— She had a choice but Chloe wouldn't shut up about it so better just do it, plus the pizza they ate before going to the theater wasn't bad.

Beca sighed and pulled her vibrating phone.

"Turn off your phone," a voice to her left whispered in annoyance.

She looked up from her phone and arched an eyebrow. "Why don't you watch the movie you paid for?" she glared at the guy who was looking at her.

"The shining light from your cell is a disturbance, turn it off," he stuffed his mouth with popcorn and held her gaze.

"No," she looked down at her phone and opened her messaging app and found a text from her mother.

 _ **'Where are you?'**_ Beca rolled her eyes reading the text.

 _ **'At the movies. I told you last night over dinner.'**_ She shook her head, texting her mother, then looked up hearing really noisy chewing coming from the guy that just asked her to turn off her phone.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"That's personal information, why do you ask?" he asked, still chewing awfully loud.

"This is R rated and not appropriate for a 12-year-old," she told him. He looked past her and at her date then back at her.

"That's why your parents sent you here with your big brother?" He brought the straw to his mouth and sipped rather loudly.

She rolled her eyes and looked down at her cell when it vibrated.

 _ **'Have fun, sweetheart. I left you cash on the counter for dinner.'**_

Beca kept staring at her phone's screen then sighed before locking it.

"Turn it back on," the noisy eat/drinker said. She ignored him. He pulled his own phone and unlocked the screen then pointed it at her.

"What the fuck is your problem, dude?" she snapped behind gritted teeth as she tilted her head.

"Is this dude bothering you?" Jacob asked as he rested his hand on her shoulder.

"I know you," the guy said, locking his phone.

"No, you don't," she told him then glanced at Jacob. "He doesn't."

"You're Beca Mitchell. Almost didn't recognize you with all the makeup but it's you," he said and got shushed by a movie goer.

"How do you know my name?" she asked while shrugging off Jacob's hand.

"How can I forget my childhood best friend? We were besties until you changed schools in the middle of the school year during 7th grade and disappeared from the face of the earth," he told her. "I'm Jesse, Jesse Swanson." He put some light on his face so that she could see him. Beca nodded, recognizing him.

"Childhood best friend is a stretch don't you think?" she asked.

Another shush came and it was more aggressive than the first one. Jesse just smiled at her and instead of answering with words he shook his head.

"Good seeing you, Mitchie," Jesse whispered then leaned against his seat.

She eyed him for a few seconds then looked back in front of her at the boring ass rom-com they were watching.

Jesse Swanson, now that's a name she hadn't heard in years. She could have kept touch but didn't because it was easier to shut everything out after her dad bailed on her and mother.

She crossed her arms across her chest to avoid having Jacob in her personal space again.

It wasn't that he was bad but she just didn't like him. He was way too confident and self-absorbed and something seemed iffy about him.

Beca sunk into her seat when the main characters started making out and tearing each others' clothes. She could see Jacob out of the corner of her eye stretching which was a classic move to throw his arm over her shoulder. She smirked when he saw that it wasn't going to happen then glanced at Jesse who was watching the scene casually resting his arm against the arm of his seat.

"What kind of a guy watches a romcom all alone?" she leaned in and whispered just enough only Jesse would hear her.

"A guy that enjoys romcoms," he answered without looking at her.

"You sure that's the case?" she asked suggestively.

"Very sure," he nodded. "Now, save the chatter for later. I'm enjoying this."

Beca was about to lean back against her seat when Jacob threw his arm around her shoulder. She looked up, smiled at him then tried to find a comfortable way to sit and not lean against him.

The movie ended on a happy note, _of course,_ and Beca was happier than the characters in the movie.

Walking out of the theater to her was walking out of a prison to a wrongfully imprisoned person.

"This was nice," Jacob said to her as he glanced at his watch.

"Totally," she nodded, sounding sarcastic and not really caring.

"Um," he nervously chuckled as they started making their way to the parking lot.

"What?" Beca arched an eyebrow. He was anxious and it was weird because it seemed very out of character for him. "Got somewhere to be?" she asked when he glanced at the time again.

"Yes," he rapidly nodded.

"Well," she sighed, "You don't have to drive me home," she told him, shrugging. "I can walk home."

He shook his head and clicked his tongue as he stopped walking. "You know what?" he paused, collecting his thoughts. "I don't like you," he honestly told her.

"Okay," she stretched the word as she stuffed her hands in her pockets.

"It's not that I don't like you it's just that I don't like like you," he tried to explain but it didn't make sense.

"Dude, it's fine," she shrugged.

"No, you don't seem to get it," he scratched the back of his head. "I. Don't. Like, _like._ You."

"Oh," she quietly said as it clicked in her head. "Then why did you ask me out?" she asked.

"Because everyone on the team was starting to notice that I hardly take any girl out and since you're in the closet too I figured you'd have my back when I tell you," he explained.

"I'm not gay," she said.

"You're not?" he questioned in disbelief. "But you wear plaids and hate guys."

"My dislike of people is gender neutral, to be honest," she told him. "And, I just like plaids," she added.

"So, you're not gay?" he asked again.

"Nope," she shook her head. "It's 2016, why wouldn't I keep my sexuality a secret?" she wondered.

"Shit," he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Hey, Jake," she paused when he looked at her. "I'm not gonna tell anyone about you told me."

He pulled her into a hug, a tight one. "Thanks, Beca," he placed a kiss on her cheek.

"I should drive you home now," he said as he pulled away.

Beca looked behind him and saw Jesse wandering around. She guessed he was looking for her.

"I think I'm gonna walk home," she told Jacob. "I'll see around at school," she added, when he nodded, then turned on her heels.

"Mitchie," Jesse exclaimed when he saw her then ran up to her. "When is your curfew?" he asked when he reached her.

"Why?" she asked.

"We got some catching up to do and I have to know how much time I have before you disappear again."

Her mother left money for dinner which meant she was going to spend the night at her boyfriend's which also meant no parental figure to give her shit when she gets home late.

"7," she told him after quickly glancing at the time. Someone should award her for being a good kid and giving herself a curfew. If she was being honest, she just wanted to go home and lay in bed and mix music until she fell asleep.

"It's 6:10 now," he said, eyeing his watch. "I can work with this," he nodded mumbling before he looked up. "You hungry?" he asked her. She shook her head. "Okay, let's get ice cream or something then and I'll walk you home," he said as they started to walk.

He didn't give her a chance to decline because he proceeded to ask, "Where did the dude you came with go?"

"Home? I don't know," she shrugged.

"Is he your boyfriend?" he carefully asked.

"First date," she told him.

"Huh."

"I don't think we going out again," she added then rolled her eyes when he held the door open for her and gestured for her to get in inside an ice cream parlor.

"He didn't meet the high standards of Beca Mitchell?" he guessed.

"We like different _things_ ," she said as she eyed the different favors.

She ended up ordering vanilla and chocolate. He went with Raspberry Ripple.

* * *

"What's with the scary ear-spike?" he asked, dipping his plastic spoon in the ice-cream as they walked down the street. She shrugged, mumbling, "I like it." She then looked up at the sky.

"What?" she asked when he gasped. He grabbed her hand and extended her arm. "When did you get a tattoo?" he asked.

"16th birthday," she looked down at the praying mantis tattooed on her arm.

"Oh, I get what's going on here," he let go of her hand. "Scary ear-spike, heavy makeup, getting a tattoo while you're underage," he paused. "You're angry at the world," he told her as he held her gaze. "Who hurt you Mitchie?" he asked.

"The world," she sarcastically said. "And, stop calling me Mitchie," she grimaced.

"Why? Mitchie is cute," he frowned, bringing the spoon to his lips.

"Not really," she shook her head.

"Where do you go?" he asked moving on—he had a lot of questions. "Or is dropping out part of your rebellion against the world?"

"I'm a junior at clearwater," she told him.

"Damn it, I knew this isn't going to be easy," he dramatically clenched his fist. "Our schools are archenemies, Beca," he added noting her confusion. "I go to Horizon High," he continued in the same dramatic tone. "I can't be seen with you," he sucked in a deep breath, "but I will because we were best friends and we gonna become best friends _again_ and or lovers, Mitchie." He winked at her.

"Please, don't say lovers," she dryly said.

" _Please,_ you had a huge crush on me," he snorted.

"I most certainly did not," she denied.

"I'm pretty sure you did." He grinned at her. "You started crushing on me a while after mother nature came to visit you," he said.

"You're a weirdo," she said in amusement. _Mother nature, really?_

He was still as much of goofball as she remembered.

"Yeah, well, so are you," he shrugged. "Hide all you want behind this front you put on, but you're a weirdo, a cute one," he added when she rolled her eyes.

"Dude, I haven't seen you in four years," she reminded him, "you don't know _me_."

"You leave the crust when you eat pizza to dip in ketchup. You're a heavy sleeper. You hate being told what to do—"

"Dude, this is creepy," she said, interrupting him.

"Nothing creepy about remembering you," he shrugged.

"How's your cat?" she asked, in an attempt to change the subject.

"Posh is still awesome," he pulled his phone. "Just fatter," he showed her a picture of his Manx ginger cat.

"She really let herself go," Beca arched an eyebrow eyeing the cat.

"Yeah," he withdrew his arm. "She stress eats a lot," he spoke casually and made Beca chuckle.

"Don't find humor in my cat's struggle," he said mock hurt.

"Sorry," she apologized, trying really hard not to smile.

* * *

"Shit, it's past your curfew," Jesse said, glancing at the time once they reached her neighborhood.

"It's cool," Beca assured him.

"I can talk to your parents if you want."

She found it really endearing that he was genuinely worried she'd get into trouble. "Thanks," she thanked him. "But it's really cool. Mom is a cool..." She stopped in front of their house.

"Are you on Facebook?" he asked.

"Nope," she answered.

"How can I reach you? I mean I know where you live but I'm not uncivilized I'd like to text before showing up at your doorstep and I don't think you'd appreciate an owl or a pigeon at your window... So your number?" He grinned at her and extended his phone her way.

A beat went by before Beca took his phone from him. She typed her number then rang herself. Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, she hung up and gave Jesse back his phone.

"It was nice running into you, dude." She stuffed her hands in her back pockets. Her eyes widened in surprise when he pulled her into an unexpected hug.

"Likewise, Mitchie," he grinned at her after he pulled away.

"Never do that again," she said, pointing a finger at him and not caring enough to mustered an authentic glare.

He beamed at her making her smile. "Good night, Beca," he said in sing-song as he started to walk away.

Beca watched him until he was out of sight then turned on her heels and started making her way the front door. She got inside the very quiet house and made her way up to her bedroom. Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket she pulled it to find a text from Chloe.

Chloe: _ **'Open the window!'**_

Beca tossed her phone the bed and unlocked the window. "You know you gonna end up falling and breaking your neck one day," she said to Chloe who was channeling her inner parkour champ by getting to Beca's bedroom though the tree between their houses.

"Who's that guy that was just dropping you off?" Chloe asked throwing her legs over the window.

"A kid I went with to school," Beca answered as removed her shoes. "Why are you sneaking out your room? It's still early for that," Beca frowned.

"I'm still on house arrest," Chloe dramatically sighed and hopped on Beca's bed. "Not everyone gets to have a parent like your mom."

"I told you not to go."

"Yeah, well, you say no to everything fun how was I supposed to know that you were right this time."

"Because we're 16 and a pedophile invited us to his party."

"Bec, he's in grad school."

"Yeah, a pedophile. And his friends are gross," Beca made a face.

"Okay, miss everyone is not good enough," Chloe sat up. "How was your date?" Chloe asked, changing the subject, as she watched Beca grab sweatpants and t-shirt from her wardrobe.

"I don't think we're going out again," Beca said and began making her way to the en-suite bathroom. "You wouldn't believe how different we are."

"Well, it's been known that opposite attracts," Chloe shrugged.

"I'm not his type," Beca said from the bathroom.

"How cares? He's hot!" Chloe exclaimed. "And, sweetie, you gonna have to pop that cherry at some point," she added then grabbed Beca's phone when it vibrated.

"Trust me when I say this, Chloe, he won't be getting near me again," Beca said in a matter of faculty tone.

"What did you do to scare him off?" Chloe asked.

"What are you doing?" Beca asked.

"Some number just sent you a picture of a really chubby cat with the caption _'name this guy so I know it's you'_ ," Chloe said in confusion.

"Text Victoria Beckham back," Beca said in amusement.

"Who's this, Bec?" Chloe asked after sending out the reply.

"It's the guy you saw me with," Beca told her and took her phone. She quickly listed him in her contact list as weirdo.

"I didn't get a good look at him. What's his name? I wanna google him."

Beca rolled her eyes then stepped out of her bedroom.

"Beca, we need to make sure he's not a serial killer." She heard her friend say and chuckled before looking at her phone when it vibrated with a text.

Jesse: _**'She prefers to be called posh.'**_

Beca: _ **'Good to know.'**_

"Beca, please," Chloe said as she began to follow Beca.

"It's Jesse Swanson," Beca caved in. Chloe wouldn't shut up until she told her. Chloe typed in his name on her phone and went quiet.

"Okay, this seems to be him. He's from here and goes to high school." She held her phone Beca's way showing her his Instagram page.

"Yeah, it's him."

"He's cute, Bec," Chloe looked back at her phone.

"Mhm," Beca acknowledged her friend and grabbed the landline planning on ordering dinner.

"You should ask him out," Chloe said hopping on the couch in the living room. "He's got strong arms..." she suggestively.

"Shut up," Beca said, getting the hint, and brought the phone to her ear ready to order dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

Lunch break was the time of day that Beca used to sit in a corner and eat her lunch while she blocked all her surroundings ever since she changed schools. But When she and her mother moved into her current home it all changed. Chloe found her way into her life and became her closest friend: And, by default, Chloe's friends became her friends: Which led to really chatty lunch breaks that Beca usually zoned out of.

Fat Amy nudged Beca who was playing with her lunch not feeling like eating.

"Yes?" Beca looked up from her plate.

"Are you coming later?" she asked.

"Where?" Beca asked.

"The movies."

"No, I got other plans," Beca lied.

She had nowhere to be, she just didn't want to sit through a movie.

"Ugh, we all know that you have nothing to do. You do nothing. It's your thing. If it weren't for that part time gig at the animal shelter your mom got for you, you wouldn't leave the house for another reason than school," Chloe over dramatically said. "I'm worried about you, Bec."

"I'm an introvert. I know is a foreign term to you all." Beca looked around the table and at the faces of her friends. "But it's a thing," she assured them.

"Yeah, you're going with us," Chloe patted her arm.

Beca blew a breath and nodded. It was pointless to argue. _Guess, I'll just nap at the movies._ Beca thought to herself as she pulled her phone when it chimed with a text.

 _Jesse:_ _**'I want you to want me, stronger than me, red eye, since u been gone.'**_

Beca looked at the text thoughtfully and subconsciously started chewing on her bottom lip.

Chloe peeked her head to look at the phone and frowned. "Is he suggesting songs, now?" she asked.

"No," Beca shook her head. "It's a stupid game," she told Chloe.

"Cool, what is it?" Stacie asked, dropping in the seat facing Beca.

"Basically, he just sends random titles of songs and I have to come up with a story using them," Beca shrugged and started typing her reply.

 _Beca:_ **_'I want you to want me not because you're stronger than me but because it's gotten super shitty since u been gone so I took a red eye flight to get you back.'_**

"Who's he?" Stacie asked in confusion as she picked the apple from Beca's plate.

"Her boyfriend," Chloe teasingly said making Beca roll her eyes.

"We need to meet him, Bec," Stacie mumbled biting into the apple. "You managed to keep him around for what, a couple of months now?"

"We just text sometimes, nothing more," Beca shrugged. "Don't believe what Chloe says. She thinks I'm interested in every single guy I talk to," she told Stacie.

"In all fairness, you don't talk to that many guys," Amy pointed out.

"Okay, I'm gonna go learn some German now," Beca got up and grabbed her plate knowing where the conversation was headed; her none existent love life.

She had no interest in listening to them talk about it.

They were worried about her and she understood their worries. She's in her teen years and never had a boyfriend. She went on dates to shut Chloe up but she had never been on a second date in her life.

* * *

"So, what are we watching?" Beca asked as she, Chloe, Stacie and Amy made their way towards the movie theater.

"How to be single," Chloe answered.

"I'm assuming it's a chick flick," Beca said as she eyed the poster of the movie.

"You assumed right," Chloe nodded.

"Great," Beca pursed her lips together.

"C'mon, let's get popcorn," Fat Amy told them as she rested her elbow on Beca's shoulder.

 _*At the same time*_

Jesse had just gotten popcorn and was waiting for Benji to get soda before they go and watch Deadpool when he saw Beca. He kept eyeing her until she felt his gaze and looked at him.

Her friends were getting snakes while she just waited around.

She awkwardly waved at him as she began making her way to him. He started to walk to her too.

"Hey, weirdo," she said meeting him halfway.

"Mitchie," he smiled at her. "We keep meeting. We need to plan meeting up at some point."

"It happened twice at the movies, a place which you told me is your second home. So really this isn't that odd."

"Yeah, well it didn't happen until now: it must be some sort of a sign," he told her.

"Sure," she snorted.

"What movie you're seeing?" he asked her moving on.

"Some chick flick called how to be single," she shrugged. "You?"

"An awesome hilarious comic-book movie about a guy name Deadpool," he grabbed a handful of popcorn and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Well, have fun," she stuffed her hands in her pockets and started to walk backward hearing Amy call her name.

"You too," he mumbled.

Jesse thoughtfully chewed the popcorn as he watched Beca turn on her heels and join her friends.

"C'mon, let's go," Benji said.

Jesse waved at Chloe when he caught her looking at him then tilted his head to look at Benji.

"Yeah?"

"Deadpool?" Benji frowned noting how distracted his friend was.

"Yep, let's hit it," Jesse began walking. He smiled to himself feeling sets on eyes on him and knowing their source.

"He's really cute, Bec," Chloe said after checking Jesse out when he walked past them.

"Yeah, I get why you've been keeping him to yourself." Stacie followed Jesse with her eyes before looking back at Beca.

"Don't we have a movie to watch?" Beca asked.

"You should ask him out," Chloe told Beca ignoring her question.

"No," Beca said slightly disgusted. "I'm not asking anybody out," she paused. "Can we go watch the damn movie you dragged me to watch _now_?"

"Why not?" Chloe arched an eyebrow.

"I don't want to. Besides, he's weird."

"Weird is not a deal-breaker," Chloe shrugged. "There's something else, isn't there?" she suspiciously asked.

"Yeah, I'm hooking up with our substitute teacher," Beca rolled her eyes and turned on her heels.

"We'll figure out what's your deal, you know?" Chloe said, catching up.

"I'm not hiding anything," Beca said in irritation and started wondering why she was friends with Chloe in the first place. She was annoyingly noisy but at the same time cared a lot. Beca sighed reminding herself that Chloe's a freaking great human being.

Chloe squeezed herself into Beca's life and made her feel better when she was in a low place in life.

* * *

Beca was mixing on her laptop when her phone vibrated with a text. She grabbed it and unlocked the screen.

Jesse: _**"Are there any** **guinea pigs**_ _**at the shelter?"**_

Beca glanced at the time and seeing that it was 1:12 am, she sat up and put her laptop aside. She didn't feel the time pass by.

Beca: _ **"People usually adopt dogs. What do you want to do with a guinea pig? Should I worry?"**_

Jesse: _**"It's for Benji. He's turning 17 next week. So, are there?"**_

Beca: _ **"Yeah."**_

Jesse: _**"Great."**_

Jesse: _ **"What are you doing up?"**_

Beca: _ **"Watching porn. You?"**_

Jesse: _**"What a coincidence. I'm watching a movie too: Forrest Gump. It's really good you should watch it."**_

Beca: " ** _Porn? YES. Otherwise, pass._** "

Jesse didn't text back right away so she assumed he went back to the movie he was watching. She put her phone aside and rubbed her eyes deciding to sleep. Hearing her phone chime with a text she grabbed it then laughed seeing that Jesse texted her a poster of a porn parody of Forrest Gump called Forrest Hump.

Jesse _: **"Have fun. *winky face*"**_

Beca: _**"Thanks.**_ "

Jesse: _**"I'm gonna drop by the animal shelter tomorrow, will I find you there?"**_

Beca: _**"I don't work on weekends."**_

Beca subconsciously bit her lip typing her next text.

Beca: _ **"I can go with you if you want."**_

Jesse: _ **"Yes! I was just gonna ask you if you'd go with me."**_

Jesse: _**"I'll come pick you up."**_

Jesse: _**"Does 2:30 work for you?"**_

Beca: _**"Yeah, sure. 2:30 sounds good."**_

Jesse: _**"Cool."**_

Jesse: _ **"My movie just ended it. I'm gonna call it a night."**_

Beca: _**"Mine just finished loading. I'll tell you about Forrest Hump on the ride to the shelter."**_

Jesse: _**"I've seen it. You don't have to."**_

Beca: **_"Even better. We'll finally have a movie we could discuss."_**

Jesse: _**"Not what I had in mind for our first movie debate but I can roll with this."**_

Jesse: _ **"Welp, I won't keep you any longer from your movie. Good night."**_

Beca: _**"Night."**_

Beca shook her head and put her phone the nightstand near her bed. _Weirdo_.—she thought to herself. He was funny and made her laugh whenever they texted.

Jesse never tried to get her out of her comfort zone. When they texted it, they'd talk about random things. He'd regularly send her memes. He came up with a game to get her through boring calculus classes when she told him she hated it and it bored her to death, he named it songs-story.

Beca really liked Jesse and had to remind herself that she couldn't let herself develop any legitimate feelings for him because it would seriously screw up her plans for the future.

* * *

 **AN:** I figured out a plot for this to make it an actual story. I will be updating whenever I can. Thoughts and suggestions are very welcomed. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your feedback, it makes my shitty days less shitty.

I'll get into Beca's plan in the future. I'm sure many of you can guess it.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** Thank you so much for your awes feedback. I hope you enjoy this as much I enjoyed writing it.

* * *

Beca did a lot of pretending in her life— she pretended she liked her mother's boyfriend. She pretended she liked the food her dad made when she visited him. She pretended to pay attention in class. She pretended to be clueless when mother sat her down to have 'the talk' with her. She pretended to be happy when she wasn't. And as she grabbed her phone to reply to Jesse who texted her that he was in front of her house, she pretended to be indifferent in front of her best friend who was laying in her bed.

"Is he here?" Chloe looked up.

"Mhmm," Beca answered typing her reply. She heard Chloe get up so she glanced at her.

"Here, use this," Chloe said as she extended her hand while holding a lip balm. "It'll make your lips taste so good, Bec," she gave her friend an over exaggerated wink.

Beca snorted and walked past her friend. "No, thanks, I'm not gonna be kissing anyone because Jesse and I aren't going on a date," Beca spoke in boredom and slowly in a way she'd speak if she were addressing a 3-year-old.

"I know," Chloe nodded and turned on her heels. "But you never know," she shrugged. "It might turn into a date."

Beca shook her head, grabbing a sweatshirt to wear over her t-shirt. "Don't forget to lock the window, monkey, 'cause it looks like it's gonna rain later."

"Yeah, don't worry," Chloe nodded then stuffed the lip balm in the sweatshirt's pocket. "Keep it just in case," she patted her friend's pocket.

"I won't use it," Beca said in sing-song as she walked out of her room when she heard a satisfied sigh from her friend that sounded more like a hum.

* * *

True, they went to get a guinea pig— like that was the whole point of going to the animal shelter in the first place. Beca kinda knew that it wouldn't be the case because for the short period Beca had known teenage Jesse, who wasn't that much different from middle school Jesse, she came to realize that he never got anything done— he got distracted by EVERYTHING.

It was tolerable. Okay, fine, she didn't really mind hanging out at the shelter with him. He liked petting animals and she was there to keep him from hurting himself because he truly believed they were harmless.

"Bec, I found your spirit animal," Jesse said as he opened a cage and pulled a baby hedgehog. "You got this tough exterior but you're actually soft when you let people in," he said as he rubbed the animal's belly.

"Put it back in before he shows you how soft he can be," Beca said as she rolled her eyes at him.

"He's a baby," he pouted holding the animal up. "He's harmless— ow," Jesse hissed when the hedgehog raised its quills.

"See, now you scared the thing," Beca shook her head, pulling her sleeves to cover her palms before she took the hedgehog from Jesse and put it back in its cage.

Beca opened a cage and pulled a brown guinea pig then looked expectantly at Jesse who was taking the whole getting guinea pig a little too seriously. "This guy kinda looks like Benji," Jesse noted as he eyed the animal thoughtfully.

"Great," Beca said. "Guess, we're done here," she looked down at the animal in her hands and ran her hand over its hair.

"Yeah," Jesse nodded and stepped closer to her to pet the guinea pig as well.

"Is it just me or do guinea pigs look they accidentally did something and are pretending like it wasn't them all the time?" Jesse asked and heard Beca chuckle. "I'm serious, look at him," Jesse paused. "He looks like he farted and is pretending it wasn't him," he said as he eyed the guinea pig.

"You're ridiculous," Beca said in amusement then looked up only to realize how close his face was to hers. He had really nice lips and she hated Chloe for putting kissing him in her head. Yeah, she wouldn't mind making out with him— _wait, what?_ Beca cleared her throat and looked away from him when he felt her gaze and shifted his attention to her.

Beca looked down at the guinea pig then handed him to Jesse who she could feel his gaze on her.

"We should leave now before it starts raining," Beca said hearing thunder strike.

"I got dad's car, it's not like we're walking home, Mitchie" Jesse shrugged.

"Yeah, well, I came to get this guy with you," she nodded at the guinea pig. "I got somewhere to be," she vaguely told him.

"I can drive you if you want," Jesse offered.

"It's fine," she smiled at him.

"I can't let you walk in the rain," he shook his head. "Dance in the rain yeah sure. I'll even join you, but no walking," he added then patted her shoulder to get her walking. "C'mon, I'm driving you."

* * *

"Thanks for the ride, Jesse," Beca thanked him as she tucked a loose lock of hr hair behind her ear when Jesse pulled over.

"You gonna be in there for long?" he asked as he glanced out of the window and at the house they pulled over in front of.

"Probably not," she shrugged. "Depends really, you can leave if you want. Dad would drive home if I ask," she told him uneasily. She never really told him her parents got divorced but the way she talked about them made it clear to him, she didn't need to say it. She liked the way he just understood what made her uncomfortable and avoided bringing it up.

"It's okay, I'll wait. Take your time," he smiled at her and unfastened his seat-belt then stretched.

Beca smiled at him then unlocked the door and stepped out of the car.

Jesse watched Beca hesitantly knock on the door then saw a woman let her in.

Beca took less than what Jesse expected, she basically ran out of the house.

"Everything okay?" Jesse hesitantly asked when Beca pulled the door behind her after she got inside the car then ran her fingers through her hair.

"Yeah," she humorlessly chuckled nodding her head. "Amazing, actually," she bitterly said and stuffed a key-chain in her pocket.

Jesse eyed her for a few seconds then drove off.

* * *

"Jesse, take a left," Beca said after a good 10 minutes of silence. He nodded and did what she said. "Okay, take the third turn now," she instructed.

"Where are we going?" he asked glancing at her as he drove.

"Our old house," she told him. "You see after splitting up, neither one of my parents really wanted the house," she sighed. "Mom got it in the divorce settlement but it made her miserable so we moved out," she paused realizing that she was sharing private things with him.

Jesse nodded at her words as he drove. "Oh, yeah, I remember the school bus dropped you off here," Jesse said recognizing the neighborhood. "I actually tried to look for you after you changed schools but got lost on the way," he shook his head at his inability to get an address right.

"You did?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah, you kinda just stopped showing up. I had to try and find you," he shrugged. "Welp," he paused, parking. "Now what?" he asked, looking out of the window.

"C'mon, you'll see," she told him as she stepped out of the car.

"Jesse, you don't have to carry the guinea pig around," Beca said noting that Jesse brought the guinea pig in tow.

"What, I'm not gonna leave him in the car, all by himself," he shrugged watching her pulled a key-chain different from the one he saw her stuff in her pocket earlier. She put the key in the lock and unlocked the door.

"Wow, you could actually film a horror movie here," Jesse said as he looked around the house. "What's your mom planning to do with the house?" he asked as he followed Beca.

"No idea," Beca shrugged. "She'll come around to sell it at some point, I guess."

Jesse watched Beca open a door then followed her. He stood in the doorway and blinked when Beca flipped the light switch.

"Well, this is something," Jesse slowly said while he patted the guinea pig and eyed the classic car parked in the garage they walked into it.

"1969 Nova Chevy," Beca told Jesse.

"69," Jesse chuckled.

Beca glanced at him then shook her head and walked to the car.

"Is this old thing still running?" Jesse asked watching Beca climb inside the car.

"Yep," Beca placed the key in the ignition, starting it, then smiled when the engine started running.

Jesse hummed at the noise the car engine made when Beca started it then watched her stepped out of the car.

"Is it your dad's?" Jesse asked as he rested his arm on the car's roof.

"Used to be his. He gave it to me," she informed him. "I was supposed to get this right after getting my drivers license but mom freaked out on dad."

"She doesn't trust you to have your own car?" Jesse asked.

"She said that but I have a feeling it's not the case," she paused.

"What do you think it is then," he wondered as he put the guinea pig on the roof of the car.

"I got my driver's license around the time they went their separate ways. This car is a reminder of what she had with dad. _And_ , I'm pretty sure I was conceived in this car," Beca said, patting the roof.

"That's a wild guess," Jesse arched an eyebrow.

Beca shrugged and reached for the guinea pig when he ran to her and took him in her hands.

"Can I _please_ take it for a spin?" Jesse gave her puppy dog eyes when she looked up from the guinea pig.

"I'm not supposed to actually drive it until dad takes it the mechanic and checks if it's good to go since mom finally started warming up to the idea of letting me have the freaking car," she told him.

"Oh, I thought you went to get the keys from your dad," Jesse said.

"No, I went for something else," she scratched her head then reached inside the car turning the engine off.

"What?" he curiously asked.

"Dad owns a cabin down by the lake," she paused. "He only goes there in spring's break... it was kind of a family tradition," she cleared her throat. "My friends and I are spending the weekend there," she patted the little animal then looked up.

"Your dad doesn't know about this, does he?"

"Nope, and he's not supposed to know," she pointedly looked at him.

"I'm offended that you think I'd rat you out," he said in mock hurt. "I'd never do that to you," he grinned at her and rested both arms on the roof the car then rested his chin on them.

"Cool," she paused, shifting her weight on her right leg. "I'd invite you but it's supposed to be a girls-only kinda thing," she said.

"Yeah, I get it," he straightened up when she walked around the car. "C'mon," she said handing him the guinea pig and started walking out of the garage. Jesse followed her thinking they were leaving the house. She started climbing the stairs so he followed her.

"Wow, okay," Jesse exclaimed in surprise once he followed Beca into a room and saw her open a closet then pull liquor bottles from it. "Is that whiskey you're holding?" he wondered.

Beca held the bottle up to read the label then nodded, "Yep. Bourbon."

"What's all this?" he asked.

"What does it look it?" she asked back in boredom as she shrugged off her back bag and started placing the liquor bottles in it.

"Why do you have liquor here and how did you get all that?"

"The girls and I occasionally slip a bottle from the shelf and bring it here for occasions, you know?" she shrugged.

"That's pretty impressive," he said watching her zip the back bag and wear it.

"Thanks," she smiled at him then looked back inside the closet and pulled a half empty bottle of rum before closing the closet and locking it with a padlock. "Here, drink responsibly," she told him handing it to him.

"No, it's okay, really," he shook his head.

"C'mon, Jesse, just take it," she shoved it in his chest.

"Thanks," he held it up and read the label.

* * *

 _ **Later that day,**_

Beca, Chloe, Fat Amy, Stacie and Aubrey, Chloe's friend who was invited in because Chloe insisted on it despite the rest's disapproval, were in the cabin.

"Here you go," Stacie said as she dropped next to Beca who was in her sleeping bag mixing.

"Thank you," Beca accepted the red solo cup that she handed her then looked up hearing fat Amy drag an armchair then hop on it while holding a bowl of chips.

"What's that sound?" Beca asked, hearing what sounded like hurling.

"Aubrey blowing chunks all over the bathroom," Amy informed her.

"Ugh," Stacie made a face. "I still don't get why Chloe insisted she came," she said bringing her drink to her lips. "I mean, if we needed the presence of an uptight parental figure I would have stayed home," she added after swallowing.

"Yeah, well, Chloe said she's going through some stuff," Beca shrugged. Chloe told her that Aubrey had just broken up with her boyfriend amicably because they were graduating highschool and were going to colleges in different states and she wasn't taking it well and neither was her now ex-boyfriend but they were trying to be _adults_ about it.

Aubrey was Chloe's friend, their parents were best friends. Chloe being Chloe wanted her friends to be friends with her oldest friend ever.

"Beca, are you drinking enough water?" Stacie asked as she eyed her friend while rubbing her thumb against the cup.

"I don't know, why?" Beca asked.

"Your lips are kinda chapped," Stacie told her. "It could be the weather," she shrugged.

"Yeah, well, I kinda forget to drink when it's cold," Beca said then ran her fingers over her lips then reached for her sweatshirt that was laying near her and pulled the lip balm Chloe gave her earlier that day and wore it.

"Did you guys hear that?" Stacie looked up.

"What?" Amy wondered stuffing her mouth with chips.

"Outside, I think I heard something," Stacie got up.

"Stace, it's raining." Beca shifted her attention to her laptop.

Seconds later, they heard what sounded like stomping.

"A raccoon?" Beca arched an eyebrow when Stacie looked at her expectantly.

"Amy got this," Amy said and cracked her knuckles after placing the bowl down.

"No, Amy, wait," Beca shot up and placed a hand on Amy's arm. They both looked at the front door when they heard knocking.

"Yeah, I'm starting to see why you said this a dumb idea," Stacie said referring to what Beca told them when they brought up spending the weekend in her dad's cabin.

"Aubrey!" They heard a person call from the other end. "Aubrey, I know you're in here, open up!"

"Aubrey's ex-boyfriend?" Beca wondered.

"I think so," Stacie shrugged then looked behind Beca and at Chloe and Aubrey who joined them.

"We'll deal with him," Beca gave Aubrey, who was barely holding it together, a small smile.

"Thanks," Aubrey thanked them and turned on her heels, locking herself in one of the rooms.

Stacie unlocked the door to find a soaked wet young man clearly drunk. She narrowed her eyes looking behind him.

"Beca," Stacie chuckled. "C'mere for a second," she added.

Beca frowned and walked to the door.

"That's your friend, right?" she asked when Beca stood next to her.

"Yep," Beca nodded, seeing Jesse step out of a car that wasn't parked that far away from the cabin. Beca wrapped her arms around herself and stepped out of the cabin and onto the porch.

"What are you doing here?" she asked over the rain as he ran the distance between the car and the cabin.

"It's a long story," he paused looking down at his feet after he mistakenly stomped into a mud puddle.

"I got time," she eyed him: it was raining heavily, he was soaked. "C'mon inside," she said and walked back inside the cabin.

"Thanks," he thanked her as he followed her in.

"I ran into Unicycle after dropping you off and he seemed like he could use a drink," he paused to sigh.

"You gave him the rum," she nodded.

"We were supposed to share," he tried to explain. "He was talking about his broken heart and drinking then just got up and told me he's gonna go see Aubrey. I couldn't let him drive."

"So you drove him," she finished for him, closing the door behind them. Jesse kicked off his dirty sneakers.

Jesse kicked off his dirty sneakers.

"Take that off you, could catch a cold," she nodded at his wet sweatshirt.

"Yeah," he nodded and pulled it over his head, staying in a plain white t-shirt.

Beca took it from him and walked to the armchair and dragged it near the fireplace before she put his sweatshirt on its back, glancing at the kitchen where Stacie was trying to sober up Unicycle. While Amy just stood nearby and ate chips. Chloe and Aubrey were nowhere to be found.

"Aubrey doesn't wanna see your friend," Beca told Jesse feeling his gaze on her.

"I see that," he looked around.

"You gonna wait until it stops raining heavily and take him and leave," she said, looking up.

"Okay," Jesse nodded.

"Pizza?" she held up a pizza box his way.

"Yep," he nodded and reached over, taking a slice. Beca put the box down before reached for the cup she barely drank from then she sat down on the arm of the armchair.

"What's that you're drinking?" he wondered as he dropped on the armchair.

"Beer," she told him and shrugged taking another sip. She made the mistake of looking Amy's way and saw her do all sort of suggestive and inappropriate gestures that she knew were directed to her and the clueless idiot sitting next to her.

He saw her looking so he tilted his head. "No," Beca said reaching for his chin and tilting his head back to her, doing so she lost coordination which resulted in having her drink spilled on Jesse's chest.

"Shit, I'm sorry," she apologized, resting her hand on the armchair to keep herself from falling on top of him.

"It's fine," he said as he looked down at himself. "It's okay," he looked up. Instead of getting the fuck up after she had managed to support her weight, Beca froze. His face was inches away from hers, she could actually feel his breath.

"I'll...I'll just take it off," Jesse said not moving either.

Beca held her breath when he leaned up. When he got dangerously close she finally managed to pull away. Jesse eyed her as she put the empty cup down then shook his head before he sat up and pulled his t-shirt over his head.

"C'mon, I'll show you the bathroom." Beca started walking when Jesse nodded and got up.

"Okay," he followed her.

Meeting Chloe in the hallway, Beca glared at her when she saw how wide Chloe's grin got after glancing behind Beca and seeing the half naked Jesse following her.

"Hi, Chloe," Jesse smiled at her.

"Jesse, what happened?" she asked.

"Bec accidentally spilled her drink on me," he informed her then paced after Beca seeing that she didn't stop.

"There's no hot water," Beca told Jesse with a shrug. "And we don't have towels either," she added when she saw him look around.

"Okay, I'll just use my t-shirt," he said then walked to the sink. Jesse hissed when he began to clean up. The water was ice cold.

"I'm really sorry, Jesse," she apologized.

"It's fine, Beca. It's just some water." He tried to keep her from seeing any discomfort he was feeling, in other words, he was playing tough.

He has a nice body. And, really nice biceps. She soon found herself staring.

Jesse quickly wiped the water with his t-shirt then blew a breath before dropping his t-shirt in the sink. He clumsily washed it and squeezed the water out of it then turned to look at Beca when he felt her gaze.

"That's not how you do it," Beca nodded at his t-shirt, snapping out of it. She made her way to him and took the wet t-shirt from him. "You wring it, Jesse," she said as she wrung the t-shirt.

"Oh, okay," he nodded. "Thanks," he smiled at her when she looked up. And, again he was close and was getting closer. You'd think he took the hint when she pulled away the first time around, but nope!

She was going to pull away because it actually scared her to let him kiss her. They were friends and she really didn't want to be involved with anyone but he had really nice lips and seeing him half naked made her want more than just kissing him if she were being honest with herself.

"It's not rocket science," she said when his face was mere inches away from hers then handed him his t-shirt and miraculously pulled away from him.

"Cool," Jesse rubbed the back of his neck then followed her out of the bathroom.

Jesse was embarrassed: She didn't let him kiss her TWICE in less than 15 minutes. He should really take a hint. But Jesse _knew_ that the attraction was mutual. He was confident that she liked him, yet he couldn't just ask her out because he also _knew_ that she had her walls up protecting her and wasn't going to let him in easily.

"Looks like it stopped raining," Beca said as she stood in front of a window. Jesse glanced at his friend who was sitting in a corner miserably drinking water and felt awful for him.

He sighed and walked to the armchair and grabbed his sweatshirt, ecstatic that it was warm because he was cold as fuck. He wore it then grabbed his muddy sneakers and wore them as well.

"Sorry for ruining your night," he apologized to the girls. "Uni?" he turned to his friend who nodded and got up. Jesse walked to the door and unlocked it then tilted his head to look at Beca. She gave him a small smile then glanced at his friend who made it to the door. Jesse let him through then said, "Good night," it was meant to be to everyone but he found himself looking at Beca then pulled the door close behind him.

Beca watched the two walk to the car and ran her fingertips over her lips. She regretted not kissing him but wouldn't admit it.

"You totally made out with him, didn't you?" Chloe said nudging Beca and startling her.

"I didn't." Beca tilted her head to look at her best friend then pulled her head back when she leaned in and sniffed her face. "Your lips smell like the lip balm I gave you. You took forever in the bathroom. And, he wouldn't stop looking at you."

"Wow, you've given Sherlock a run for his money just now," Beca shook her head then walked to her sleeping bag, planning to go back to what she was doing before the boys showed up.

"Hate to blow your bubble but she actually wore the balm 'cause her lips are a little chapped," Stacie said overhearing them.

"Thank you, Stacie," Beca thanked her.

"She almost did, though," Amy said as she hopped on the armchair. "What?" she said in confusion when Beca glared at her.

"Nothing," Beca got inside her sleeping bag and ignored the way Chloe smirked hearing Amy's words.


	4. Chapter 4

"What am I doing here?" Beca murmured as she readjusted the strap of her back-bag on her shoulder and eyed Jesse's house. She double checked as she looked at her phone for the third time to see if she walked to the correct house then nodded, "yep, same as last time I checked." She paused. "Why am I nervous?" she wondered and shook her head before she hesitantly walked up the porch and got herself to knock before she decided to go home and pretend that she was busy and couldn't come to help him out with math. Yeah, math! Beca Mitchell was helping out Jesse Swanson with FUCKING MATH. Algebra to be specific. She didn't understand it either. Not the algebra, but the fact that she _actually_ understood algebra. Math made sense to her. It's just following rules and theories to get an answer. It gets straight to the point. She liked that. Jesse, on the other hand, was too busy with movies to do homework at home. And, he told her he'd end up daydreaming in class and not catch a thing the teacher says.

One day, he texted her a picture of a math test he failed. She offered to help. He gratefully accepted. And that's why Beca was at his doorstep clenching her fist in anxiety after she had knocked on the door.

It wasn't long that she heard someone make their way to the door. She forced a smile when a 40 something woman that had the same kind eyes Jesse unlocked the door.

"Hi, Mrs. Swanson," Beca said greeting the woman that seemed in a hurry.

"You must be Beca." Mrs. Swanson opened the door widely, "come on in," she said letting her through. "Jesse, your friend is here," she called loud enough for Jesse to hear as she grabbed her car keys from a table.

Moments later, Beca heard fast footstep coming from the second floor then saw Jesse peek his head from the staircase. He grinned at her and she found it hard not to at least smile at him.

"Jesse, I'm gonna go get your brother from his soccer practice," Mrs. Swanson told her son who nodded. "Mom, wait," Jesse called as his mother walked past Beca. "Did you go grocery shopping?" he asked.

"I got you the juice pouches you asked for," she said.

"And the popcorn?" he wondered.

"Yeah, that goes without saying." she sighed.

"Thanks, mom," he thanked her.

"Sure." They heard her say as she pulled the door closed.

Beca inhaled and looked up at Jesse who was walking down the stairs. He was wearing a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that had the shaka sign printed on it. His hair was going into odd directions, he was in need of a new haircut, but it made him look cute. She, of course, wasn't going to tell him.

"Your mom seems cool," Beca said.

"Yeah, she's awesome," Jesse said as he walked to the kitchen.

"So, I thought, since your so bad at algebra, we go back to basics. When you get the hold of things we'll start on what you should be actually learning." Beca shrugged off her back-bag and was unzipping it when she heard Jesse say, "Okay."

Jesse pulled a couple of juice pouches from the fridge then walked back to where Beca was standing, near the front door, then extended his hand. "Here," he said as he shook the pouch. Beca took it from him.

"Take it easy on me," Jesse said as he began climbing the stairs. "'cause this guy knows less than Jon Snow," he pointed to himself.

"Am I supposed to know who that is?" Beca wondered as she followed him while fumbling with the juice pouch, trying to put the straw.

"Okay, I get your hatred for movies, I'm not saying I understand or agree with—cause seriously what is wrong with you?— but your lack of knowledge of Game of Thrones is really disturbing unless you live under a rock!" Jesse spun around to face Beca who was half listening as she struggled to put the straw while also holding her notes that she figured should have stayed in her back-bag for a while longer.

"Huh?" She looked up.

"Game of Thrones? Dragons? Khaleesi? Ned Stark? Winter is coming?"

She shrugged.

"You need help," he firmly told her.

"Wrong." She took a few steps then turn to face him once she was looking down at him. "You need _help_ to pass math and eventually graduate high school," she said and handed him her notes to hold for her. "Why would you take Algebra in the first place if you suck at it?" she wondered.

"Successful people set achievable goals," he shrugged. "I like a good challenge."

His words got a chuckle a small laugh from Beca that made him chuckle himself.

* * *

"Are you seriously using your fingers to count?" Beca asked in disbelief. He was working on Algebra the numbers he'd come across wouldn't be bigger than 10.

"Shut up," he said quickly as he continued to count. She eyed him in amusement then leaned forward to read what he was writing. She was glad he was on the right track. The stuff was easy. He had to get it. And, they had to move to harder things.

"Is this right?" Jesse wondered as he held the paper her way. Beca nodded eyeing it. "Yep," she grabbed one of her notes and put it between them. "I need you to really concentrate now Jesse, okay?" she looked up.

"Okay," he nodded, frowning as he eyed the paper.

"Good," she looked down at the note.

Beca was explaining a theory using an example when she felt Jesse's gaze on her and it messed up with her concentration. Instead of continuing to explain she looked up.

"Your eyes should be down here," she nodded at the paper.

"You're a better sight to look at," he sincerely told her. "Ar, um, you think we could take a break?" Jesse asked as he rubbed the back of his neck. Beca was really good at explaining things. He was picking what she was teaching him but he was easily distracted by her every move. It was becoming hard to focus and ignore the view Beca unintentionally gave him of her cleavage whenever she leaned over to correct him. And, he started to see why Beca told him it would be better if they sat by the kitchen counter instead of his bedroom floor: his neck was sore and he was damn sure hers was as well.

"Sure," Beca nodded and used the pencil she was playing with between her fingers to her hold her hair then rubbed the back of her neck. Her eyes fell on what seem to be magazines under Jesse's bed. "What are those?" she asked as she crawled the distance to his bed and pulled them.

"You're disappointed it's not porn, aren't you?" Jesse chuckled as watched Beca arch her eyebrows while she looked at the notebooks in her hands.

"What are those for?" she asked as she glanced over the content to find pages of musical notes.

"Those are super famous scores," he said and crawled to her.

"Why do you keep them around?" she looked at him.

"I want to write music for movies one day," he told her. "But I'm studying these for now." He took one of the notebooks from her and got up. Jesse walked to where his keyboard was set and played a piece from Lord of The Rings for her.

"That's beautiful," Beca said as she got up as well.

"I know right," he said in agreement.

Yeah, it was both beautiful and a turn on. Seeing Jesse soulfully play the piano was _a huge_ turn on.

"Where's Imperial March from?" Beca randomly asked to get her mind elsewhere as she looked through a notebook.

"StarWars," he grinned. "It's Darth Vader's theme." He began doing the imperial march A-Cappella and made Beca roll her eyes at how ridiculous he sounded.

She had a hard time trying to keep herself from laughing when he did the march and stopped to pretend to be using the force.

"Are you done?" she asked when he stood in front of her and finally shut up. He nodded. "Can we go back to studying?" she wondered. He nodded again. "Good." She pushed past him and went back to the spot they were sitting at. He followed her.

"So," Beca began to say as she sat down and picked up the note. "let's start over, shall we?" she sighed pulling the pencil that was holding her hair up and looked at Jesse to find an odd look on his face. He reached over and tuck the hair that fell on her face behind her ear.

She was caught off guard when he leaned in and pecked her lips. It should have been awkward to look at him afterward. She should have felt weird about it. She also should have pretended it didn't happen and went back to explaining the thing she couldn't remember for the life of her instead of leaning and kissing him back hesitantly.

She pulled away and before she could say anything he kissed her again, only more forcefully this time. In fact, it was so forcefully she fell back on the floor—he kinda guided her, she wasn't sure, she was busy making out with the boy she was supposed to be tutoring.

He pulled away and was having a hard time to control his breathing and instead of using words he found himself humming Han Solo and the Princess theme.

"I assume this is also from StarWars?" Beca asked as she rubbed her thumb against his cheek. He nodded still humming.

"You're a such a weirdo," she rolled her eyes and gently pushed him off of her to sit up.

Jesse, puzzled, watched her grabbed the piece of paper she was holding before he lost his self-control and resumed what she was doing. She glanced up to see if he was following so he nodded.

Beca was damn good at putting up front and ignoring things. She kinda felt bad for Jesse. He had no idea how did they go from making out on the floor to working on Algebra in less than a minute. She didn't know how nor why she let it happen so until she figured that out she was going to pretend it didn't happen.

 **An hour later,**

They heard a knock on the unlocked door. Both she and Jesse looked up towards the door and saw Jesse's mother at the doorway, holding a tray that had a plate of cookies and a couple of mugs of hot chocolate.

Beca smiled at the surprised look on Mrs. Swanson's face, clearly not expecting to find them still studying.

"Beca, if your parents don't mind, stay for dinner," Mrs. Swanson said as she handed Jesse the tray. "Jesse'll drive you home."

"Thanks, Mrs. Swanson," Beca hesitantly said accepting. There was nothing to look forward to at home. Her mother left her money to buy dinner which usually meant she wouldn't be spending the night home.

"Please, it's great to have a girl around in this testosterone-dominated household," Mrs. Swanson sighed.

Beca gave her a sympathetic smile and accepted the mug of hot chocolate from Jesse and watched the woman leave the room. She glanced at her phone and checked the time and was surprised to find that it was already past 6 pm.

"Beca, I don't think my brain can take more Algebra can we stop?" Jesse wondered and had a hopeful look on his face as he watched Beca sip from the hot chocolate.

"Yeah," she shrugged after swallowing. "Just make sure to practice what you learned otherwise you'll forget," she told him. He nodded and got up.

Beca began gathering her notes and organizing them while stealing glances at Jesse who was wandering around the room looking for something. "We're watching this until dinner is ready," Jesse shook a DVD case of StarWars Episode IV: A New Hope.

Beca zipped her back-bag and sighed. The last thing she wanted to do was to watch a movie but Jesse didn't make her want to headbutt with him when she was tutoring him, he was a good student, so she figured watching a movie with him wouldn't be so bad. Besides, she could smell dinner being cooked so she wasn't going to be stuck watching the whole thing.

Jesse grinned at her then walked to the TV he had in his room. "Is that a VHS player?" Beca wondered noting the player that was under the DVD player. "Mmhm," came Jesse's answer as he put the DVD.

"Why do you have a VHS player?" she asked.

"How else am I supposed to play VHS tapes?" he asked back as she straightened up and reached for the remote.

"Are you aware of how far technology has come? I mean, you could easily load whatever you have on a VHS tape into a flash drive or something."

He shrugged and flipped the light switch then hopped on his bed, patting it, inviting Beca to sit next to him. He had a ridiculous amount of pillows which made it easier for her to keep him from invading her personal space again— not that she'd really mind having him on top of her again, his mouth covering hers... Ahem, where were they? Yep, they were about to watch a movie after they finished with Algebra and as they waited to be called for dinner.

They weren't even 20 minutes in when, much to Jesse's disappointment, Beca had fallen asleep. He could tell she was tired and it wasn't the movie that bored her out because it had just started. She was yawning the whole time she was tutoring him and looked like she didn't get much sleep the night before. He, of course, didn't point it out. He just observed and kept it to himself.

Jesse wished he could read minds and know what was going through her head. He didn't regret kissing her but what he regretted was not talking about it and just rolling with the way she just pretended it didn't even happen. He usually avoided making her uncomfortable but it happened and they had to acknowledge it.

He thought it was obvious that he liked her. He was a 100% sure she was aware and felt the same way about him—if he had any doubts they were gone thanks to the way she was kissing him.

But what was bugging him was the way she was handling it: She was ignoring it. And, he just wanted to know WHY?

Jesse smile when Beca sighed in her sleep and held on to the pillow she was holding tightly as she shifted in her sleep in a way she was facing him. She looked vulnerable and sweet in her sleep. He had to resist the urge to touch her by reminding himself of how creepy it would look especially if it woke her up. Staring was enough to stir her from sleep.

"For how was I out?" she asked after clearing her throat.

"Like half an hour?" he shrugged and watched her sit up. She blew a breath and looked around her. "You moving or what?" she wondered eyeing his legs that were keeping her from climbing off of the bed. He sat up and watched her throw her legs over the bed.

"Hey, Bec," he called, planning to bring up their 'kissing incident' when his brother barged into the room.

"Dinner is ready," the younger Swanson said as he held onto the door handle.

"Hi," he nodded at Beca when she tilted her head to look at him and blinked when he flipped the light switch.

"Hey, Ryan, right?" she smiled at him.

"Yep, the smarter, better looking, better at everything, Swanson," he told her with a grin on his face that looked a lot like the one Jesse often sported.

Beca watched Jesse jumped from the bed and in a mere of seconds put his 15-years-old brother in a headlock.

"Didn't hurt," Jesse shouted as he rubbed the spot his brother punched to get out of the headlock and run down the stairs.

Jesse waited for Beca to wear her shoes and began making his way to the stairs.

* * *

As they dined Jesse noticed something about Beca. She was faking interest while speaking with his parents and brother. It felt like an enhanced version of herself that people would like better. Which was odd because her cynical movie hating self was likable enough, in his opinion.

Jesse was waiting to be alone with her again to get to talk to her about what happened between them while studying and when he finally was he couldn't find a way to bring up. Yes, Jesse Swanson was nervous and honestly afraid she'd push him out of her life because of one _'incident'_.

"So, where are you spending spring's break?" Jesse found himself asking. They were getting closer to her neighborhood and the silence was unbearable.

His question made her chuckle. "At home. Where else?"

"You're not going to your dad's?" he wondered.

"No." She paused. "He's busy with his new girlfriend and I don't want to intrude."

"You don't want to pretend to like her, you mean?" He felt her gaze on his and didn't dare look at her. He was a little smug that he could tell she was pretending in front of him because it meant that he knew her well enough to tell.

"Thanks for the ride," Beca unlocked the door and rushed out of the car not giving him the chance to say anything once he pulled over.

Jesse ran his fingers through his hair then glanced at the passenger seat to spot her earphones. He stepped out of the car and followed her. "Beca, wait," he called as he walked.

"What's up?" She spun around after unlocking the door.

"You forgot these," he said as he held her earphones her way then looked behind her and at the house when he heard a crashing sound.

"Probably mom dropped something." She took the earphones from him. "Thanks for these," she said and was about to get inside the house.

"Or it could be a thief or something," Jesse mumbled as he held her shoulder and walked inside the house carefully.

Beca followed him and locked the door before she dropped her back-bag along with her coat and walked past him.

"Mom?" she called as she made her way to the kitchen. Jesse was about to pull her by the arm and tell her to keep it down but didn't when he saw Beca's mother on the floor. He watched Beca bend down and sigh before she checked her mother's pulse.

"She okay?" he wondered.

"She'll be fine," she said as she tried to help her mother up. Jesse paced to her and held the woman, who was about the same size as her daughter, up.

"Where do I put her?" he asked, trying not to grimace at the strong smell of red wine.

"I usually put her on the couch 'cause I can't take her to bed," Beca shrugged as she poured a glass of water.

"I can." Jesse held her closely and took her to her bedroom.

He stepped back after he put her on the bed and watched Beca cup her mother's cheek and say, "mom, drink this, okay?" her tone was too gentle.

Jesse was surprised when the older woman nodded and drank the offered water. He dragged himself out of the door when Beca began to softly sing to her mother as she stroked her hair, feeling like he was invading their privacy. It was too personal. And felt wrong to be witnessed.

He was leaning against the door when Beca walked out of the room and pulled the door leaving it barely open.

"Mom doesn't deal well with breakups," she said as they walked, satisfying Jesse's curiosity.

He didn't say anything back. He followed her to the kitchen and helped her clear the mess her mother made after dropping the half-empty bottle of wine.

"I'd appreciate it if you kept what you saw here to yourself," Beca said as she dropped the shattered glass into the trash can.

"You don't have to tell me, Bec," Jesse said then frowned when he noticed Beca's bleeding thumb.

"I cut it when you went to get the broom," she said feeling his gaze. "It's fine. Not a deep cut," she added as she eyed her thumb.

"Where's the first aid kit?" Jesse asked.

"That bathroom over there," she nodded at the bathroom after rolling her eyes.

Jesse ran to the bathroom, got the kit and ran back to where Beca was standing.

"Thanks," Beca thanked him after he took care of her wounded thumb. "Jesse, you should go," she added when his phone chimed with a text, guessing it was his mother, and he checked it without sending back a reply.

"You gonna be okay?" he asked.

She gave him a small smile and nodded. He could tell that it wasn't the first time she came home to find her mother passed out drunk.

Jesse was still itching to bring up what happened but the given circumstances were holding him back. He reached over and pulled her into a hug. She usually stiffened before she hugged him back but this time she leaned into his embrace instantly so tightened his hug.

He loosened his hold when he felt her pull away and felt her cup his cheek and rub her thumb against his cheek. He started doing the imperial march A-Capella like he did in his bedroom and grinned when she rolled her eyes.

"You're so weird," she said, slightly shaking her head, and leaned up kissing him softly. He responded instantly.

When he hugged her she figured out why she kiss him a few hours earlier, he was amazing at making her feel better her which explained the fact that she didn't feel awkward when he stole a kiss from her. It was actually a relief.

"You should really get going," Beca said resting her head on his shoulder after pulling away once his phone began ringing in his pocket. She _really_ didn't want him to leave and it was _really_ bad news.

Jesse held her closer to him, ignoring his phone. "You think we could go grab a bite sometime this week?" he asked.

"You mean, go on a date?" she mumbled into his shoulder.

"Yeah, that." He swallowed. She kissed him, that had to mean something, right? RIGHT?

"Yeah, sure, okay, whatever." He heard her mumbled and grinned because he was sure as hell she was blushing. He was about to tease her about it then decided not to. She could very much change her mind and he couldn't let himself blow it.

"Cool," he said and unwrapped his arms from around her. "I'll text you." He began walking backward and watched her nod.

"Jesse, my back-bag—" she tried to warn him but it was too late because he tripped and fell.

"Dude, you okay?" He heard the amusement in her tone.

"I'm okay," he told her as he got up, wincing at the pain. "Good night," he said reaching for the handle and unlocking the door, trying to save himself from the embarrassment he was feeling.

"Night." He heard her say so he glanced at her and waved before pulling his phone that wouldn't stop ringing.

* * *

 **AN:** It's so odd to write teenage versions of these characters. I really hope I did alright. Leave your thoughts in a review if you want. Thanks for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

Beca regretted not calling it an early night like she promised herself she'd do.

Beca regretted sleeping for less than 5 hours in 48 hours. She was supposed to sleep the night before. The plan was an all-nighter on Wednesday and going to bed the moment she got home on Thursday.

It was Friday, she had less than half of an hour then her shift will be over and she could sleep until Sunday.

 _Halle-fucking-lujah._ — Beca thought to herself when she checked the time. Her shift was over. She couldn't wait to go lay on her bed and pass out for several hours.

Beca was grabbing her back-bag when phone chimed with a text.

 _Jesse: **'I'm running late. Wait.'**_

"Shit," Beca murmured, rubbing her forehead. She couldn't believe she was supposed to go out with Jesse. Who forgot when they're going on a date, a first date? "Shit," Beca repeated then sighed before typing her reply.

 _Beca:_ ** _'Okay.'_**

Beca groaned. She didn't want to be around him while she was sleepless. Sleepless Beca was a bitch.

 _Well, maybe, I'd scare him off and he'd leave me alone._ —Beca thought to herself as she made her way out of the shelter.

"Have a great weekend, Beca," Jim the, a little too chipper, manager of the shelter said.

Beca tilted her head and smiled at him in return. He waved meeting her gaze.

* * *

Jesse didn't run as late as she expected after she got his text.

He was barely late.

"Hi," he greeted as he walked towards her.

Beca got up from her spot on the sidewalk and began making her way to him. She tried to smile and hide her exhaustion, she really did, but he could tell she was really tired.

"You okay?" He frowned a little.

"Yeah, just a little tired. C'mon." She stuffed her hands in her sweatshirt's kangaroo pocket and nudged him as she walked past him.

She hadn't seen him since she went to help him understand Algebra and somehow ended up making out with him on his bedroom floor and getting asked out on a date. They talked over text messages. But seeing him made her feel a rush of weird feelings she didn't really like. She was happy to see him but felt awkward—last time she saw him she shoved her tongue down his throat— but she wasn't going to let herself think of the other stuff she felt.

"We could go out some other time if you want, Bec."

"Jesse, I said I'm fine," she deadpanned and held her tongue because she was totally going to act like a dick.

"Okay," he nodded and followed her. "So, I thought we could hit the zoo then grab a bite or the other way around. Whichever you want to start with."

"Why not the two simultaneously?" Beca shrugged.

"I'm down for that."

* * *

"Okay, you're about to experience an intense foodgasm, keep the moaning to a minimum I don't want people to think I'm doing something to you." Jesse glanced at her as he spoke then took a seat on a bench at the zoo they were at. Jesse opened the pizza box and breathed heavily.

"Hate to break it to you but I had pepperoni pizza before, Jesse." Beca chuckled a little at the way he cracked his knuckles.

"But have ever eaten a pizzdwich?"

"A what?"

"A pizza sandwich. A pizzdwich." He looked up. She shook her head.

"Great, now you will." He began placing slices over each other then he wrapped the 'pizzdwich' in paper and handed it to her.

"Jesse, we could have gotten calzones," Beca sighed, taking a seat next to him.

"No, calzone is yuck. Pizza is yum."

"How old are you?" she asked.

"Eat," he said in amusement and began making his own pizzdwich then got up to toss the empty pizza box in the trash can.

"C'mon, Becs, let's embark on our adventure in the land of the wild," he said, extending his hand.

"You might wanna take the dramatic tone down, say, a hundred notches," Beca advised taking his arm to stand up then stuffed her free hand in her pocket. She bit into the pizzdwich and let out an over exaggerated moan. "This is good." She looked up.

"I know," he beamed. "Let's go see the penguins," Jesse said as he chewed.

* * *

She was about to pass out from exhaustion but Beca was _legit_ having fun. Jesse was fun to be around. The way he talked to the zoo animals as if they understood him amused her the most.

"That monkey looks like he's having the time of his life," Jesse said and pointed at the monkey that was jumping around as they stopped in front of the monkeys' cage.

"Please, he, and everyone here, is trapped in cages on a foreign land."

"Well, most of these animals were born here," Jesse shrugged.

"Yeah, but they belong elsewhere. Not here. They're trapped in his place," she said in irritation and a hint of sorrow. He picked up on how personal it was to her. She sounded like she was relating to them. He kept it to himself and said, "They take good care of them here, Bec."

"This place is like a prison." She paused to yawn.

"Okay, you're far into the grumpy side. I think we covered the whole place and could leave, whatcha think?"

"This has nothing to do with my tiredness. It's the truth." Beca sniffed feeling the tears that formed because of her yawn.

"Oh, Bec, look, jelly apples," Jesse said as he looked behind Beca. "I'm gonna get one. Want one, too?" he looked back at her.

"Sure," she smiled.

Beca had yet to meet someone who got distracted faster than Jesse.

* * *

"Thank you," Beca said accepting the jelly apple from Jesse.

"Pomme d'amour," Jesse said eyeing the jelly apple in his hand. "That's what it's called in French." He looked at Beca who was busy biting into the apple.

"You know what it means?" he asked.

"Well, I know amour means love," she told him as she chewed.

"Yeah, well, pomme means apple. It's the apple of love."

"That is such a French term for it." Beca shook her head.

"They make everything sound either romantic or sexy or both," he said. "One day, I'm gonna go to Paris and sing I love Paris under the Eiffel tower on top of my lungs. And go visit where they shot midnight in Paris, too," he randomly told her.

He sighed and looked at Beca to find her grimacing.

"What? You don't like my plans?"

"No, they're fine. A little too cheesy that's all."

He shrugged. "Well, where do you wanna go outside the states?"

Beca blew a breath, "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? Don't you have a place you want to visit at least once?"

"Belgium," Beca said after a beat.

"Belgium?" he arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I'd like to go to Tomorrowland."

She wanted to play a set at the festival.

"That's nice." He paused to think.

"We could go together you know? Like start off in Paris where I can do my thing, you're free to join in in the singing or just watch, then head up to Belgium, tomorrowland first then Burges 'cause I wanna see where they shot In Bruges."

"That sounds like an awesome plan," she sarcastically told him.

"It is an _awesome_ plan," he said, catching up on the sarcasm. "After we're done with school and make enough money to afford trips overseas, I'm bringing this up again, Bec."

"What makes you think we'll still be in touch by then?" she asked after swallowing. _Yeah, this is totally what I just asked the guy on our first date.—_ Beca thought in realization. _Awesome._

"We're besties, Mitchie, that's why? You're not getting rid of me again," he grinned at her.

"Stop calling me that," she said as she glared at him. Her glare didn't affect his grin and soon she found herself smiling at him.

 _You're not getting rid of me again._ She tried not to over-think it. He just meant that they wouldn't lose touch yet the words were scary to hear.

* * *

They were getting closer to her house. She couldn't believe that she didn't act like an asshole despite her sleepless state. And, she thoroughly enjoyed herself. She had fun eating Pizza Jesse's way while talking about all sort of things with Jesse. He was easy to talk to and she actually couldn't believe the fact that not once did she feel uncomfortable during their date. He never tried anything with her. He was his annoyingly charming and respectful self. Respecting her personal space and all.

She wouldn't mind hanging out with him again.

She found herself wondering when they'd go on a second date and their first date just had ended. It was officially done. But he insisted he'd walk her home and she didn't fight him.

"Bec?" Jesse' voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah?" she looked up from the sidewalk she was thoughtfully eyeing as they walked in silence.

"I had fun."

It took Beca less than a second to realize that they were in her neighborhood already.

"Me too. I had fun, too." She stuffed her hands in her sweatshirt's pocket not knowing what to do with her hands. They continued to walk in silence until they reached her house.

For once, she wanted to kiss her date yet her date didn't seem like he's going to make a move. She even wore Chloe's damned lip balm when he wasn't looking.

"You're gonna sleep the whole weekend, aren't you?" Jesse asked in amusement watching Beca stifle a yawn.

She nodded. "With food breaks."

"What were you even doing up on a school night? I don't assume finishing up homework?"

"Definitely not homework," she chuckled. He smiled realizing she wasn't going to tell him and letting it go.

"Well, sleep tight."

Jesse was nervous. He'll admit that. Jesse Swanson, the guy who would shamelessly belt out Disney songs in public, was nervous. It didn't really add up how nervous Beca made him despite how easily he understood her. She had a shit load of walls around her yet he could peek into her true self when she let him.

It was weird with her.

He enjoyed making her laugh. It was a good challenge to get Beca Mitchell to show emotions.

 _Here it goes—_ he thought as he worked up the courage and reached for her cheek cupping it before he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.

He smiled when she kissed him back. It was nothing like back in his bedroom. It was a nice respectful kiss. Despite its briefness, it felt very sweet but it could be the jelly apple.

"What, no StarWars themes?" Beca asked when he pulled away, recalling the way he hummed StarWars music both times they kissed before.

He chuckled and let go of her cheek then cleared his throat.

"Don't," Beca glared at him, guessing that he was about to hum something from StarWars.

"I'm not allowed to clear my throat around you?" he wondered in mock confusion.

"See you around, weirdo," Beca shook her head, turning on her heels.

Jesse watched her get in. Realizing he was smiling too hard, he began to walk away.

* * *

Beca sighed as she walked further into the house and saw her mother napping on the couch with a couple of empty bottles of wine on the floor. She filled a glass of water then walked to the couch, placing the glass on the coffee table, and grabbing the empty bottles to get rid of them.

She later got her to wake up and drink the water.

"I'll take care of dinner," Beca said taking the empty glass from her mother. "Pizza?" She could see her mother nod from the corner of her eye.

* * *

"What's this, Beca?" her mother asked sitting down at the dining table and eyeing the plate her daughter placed in front of her: Beca made her Jesse's Pizza-Sandwich.

"It's called a pizzdwich. You'll eat it so fast, you won't get enough time to realize a number of carbs you devoured," Beca said and smiled her hearing a chuckle from her mom, glad Jesse's ridiculousness work, it actually got a chuckle out of her miserable mother.

"Thanks, Becs," she thanked her daughter as she placed a bottle of water in front of her.

Beca gave her a small smile in return and sat down at the table as well.

"Aren't you going to eat, honey?" she wondered.

"I ate out," Beca told her. "I was out with Jesse. I told you about him."

Her mother nodded, "how was it?"

"Nice," Beca curtly replied, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"You like him, huh?" she asked in amusement, aware of how uncomfortable she made her daughter with her question.

"Yeah, he's cool."

"That's great, Bec," she smiled, rubbing her forehead.

"Aspirin?" Beca quietly said.

Her mom nodded slowly. Beca got up from her seat and got the drug for her hungover mother.

"Thanks, Bec." Beca heard her mother say when she handed her the painkiller.

"I'm gonna be in my room," she told her. "Night, mom," Beca said as she squeezed her mother's shoulder.

Her mom patted her hand, "thanks, Bec," she thanked her again.

* * *

Beca turned on the lights in her room upon arrival and blew a breath before she kicked off her shoes. She couldn't wait to sleep. She was never going to let herself get so over-worked.

She quickly got rid of her makeup and changed into nighties. She was climbing on her bed when her phone chimed with a text. She grabbed her phone and was surprised to find a text from Luke.

 _Luke: **Scott can't do tomorrow, interested in filling in for him?**_

Beca sat down on her bed and read the text she got from the dude that hired her to play her mashups three days a week at the radio station he managed.

She didn't think twice before replying.

 _Beca: **Yes. I'm in.**_

The gig at the radio station was a small step to get what she wanted. _Baby steps—_ _Crappy radio now, L.A. later—_ Beca put her phone on the nightstand and curled up, welcoming sleep with opened arms.

She heard her phone chime with another text, she couldn't pull the effort and grab her phone so she didn't.

* * *

 **The next day,**

Beca woke up hungry. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand to check the time to find that it's 2:40 pm. She found a text from Jesse from the night before. It was a picture of a really cute bunny with the caption: _'Good morning/evening, thought you deserve to start the day with this cute thing.'_

Beca chuckled eyeing the text. _Idiot._

She sat up and was stretching when she heard her phone chime, this time it was Chloe texting her.

 _Chloe: **'Let me in.'**_

Beca glanced up at the window and didn't see Chloe which was weird. Chloe enjoyed coming from the window. Chloe rarely came from the front door like normal people.

 _Chloe: **'I brought brownies.'**_

 _Beca: **'Okay, just a sec.'**_

Beca made a stop in her mother's bedroom to check if she left her bed and was glad to see that it was empty. She made her way down the stairs and saw her mother sitting at the dining table working on her laptop with no alcohol in sight. Her mother was becoming a little too depended on alcohol and it was nice to see that she wasn't drinking.

Beca hoped that her mom was finally getting a grip and got over Gerard. _The fucker._

Her mother looked up for a second and acknowledged her daughter.

Beca let Chloe in while rubbing her eye then closed the door behind her.

"Hey, Ms. M.," Chloe greeted using the safest way to call Beca's mother because her maiden name was Manning and she always messed up and called her Mrs. Mitchell.

"Chloe," Ms. M. gave Chloe a small smile.

"I made brownies," she said walking toward to the older woman and ignoring her friend.

"Thanks, kid," Ms. M. said lowering her laptop's screen. Chloe quickly walked to the kitchen and grabbed a plate and 3 cans of coke zero from the fridge and put some of the brownies for the woman along with a soda can before she followed her friend who was already climbing the stairs.

"I. Want. To. Know. Every. Single. Detail."

Beca sighed hearing Chloe's words. Of course, Chloe would remember the date.

"Where did you go?" Chloe asked, placing the tray on the nightstand then jumped on the bed.

"The zoo," Beca answered as she scratched her head and looked into her closet.

"Did you take any pictures?"

Beca nodded and threw her phone for Chloe to catch.

"Bec, these are all pictures of animals. I want pictures with your faces on them."

"There's one with the penguins I think," she told her as she pulled clothes from hr closet.

"Awww," Chloe cooed in a way one would when they saw a baby or something. "You look really cute."

"When are you going out again?"

"I don't know," Beca shrugged.

"So, you are going out with again?"

Beca nodded.

"FINALLY!" Chloe exclaimed. "Beca is going on a second date," Chloe chanted in a repetitive and very annoying manner.

"Really, Chloe?" Beca glanced at her.

"I knew you liked him more than you led me to believe," Chloe said hugging Beca from behind. "Did you use that lip balm?"

Beca didn't answer.

"You totally did," Chloe snickered.

"I'm gonna go shower now," Beca said as she removed herself from Chloe's hold.

* * *

 **AN:** Thank you very much for your kind words. I hope you enjoyed this. Your thoughts are so welcomed so leave them in a review below. Thanks for reading.


	6. Chapter 6

"Chloe, what are we doing?" Beca asked.

"Can't I drag my best friend for a walk without a motive?" Chloe wondered.

"We're at a deserted playground and it will get dark soon so unless you're okay with your parents starting a search party we should probably head home." Beca took a look around the playground that was on the other side of the town aka the side she lived at growing up. She actually remembered playing at this particular park.

"So, why are we here, Chloe?" Beca asked when Chloe turned around to look at her. Chloe glanced at her watch then grabbed Beca by the arm. "C'mon, Becs, the show is about to start."

"What show?" Beca asked as she let Chloe lead the way.

"Chloe, answers now!" Beca demanded as she and Chloe hid behind a slide.

"That asshole Todd, remember him?" Chloe whispered.

"The one that I punched 'cause he made fun of that theater weirdo last year?"

"Yeah, that guy," Chloe nodded. "He bullied the hell out of Jimmy and said a lot of homophobic shit!"

"Yeah, I know," Beca nodded, not getting why they were talking about the boy that changed schools after she punched him. "I almost got expelled because of him."

"No, you almost got expelled because you're feisty," Chloe corrected then sighed. "Well, if what I heard about him is true, he's gay," Chloe whispered.

"Cool. Still, don't see why we're talking about him nor why we're whispering," Beca whispered.

"He's seeing someone from our school."

"Who even tells you this sort of things? And who fucking cares?"

"I care. You should too. 'Cause he called you names when you punched him and walked around school spreading rumors about you."

"I was there, Chloe." Beca rolled her eyes. She didn't really care about the bully that she punched. She heard some of the stuff he said about her, some were disgusting others weren't. Bottom-line, she gave zero fucks about him. "Are we here to creep on him and whoever he's seeing?" Beca asked. "This is stupid. We're leaving now," Beca shook her head when Chloe nodded.

"No, wait, someone is here," Chloe whispered and gripped Beca's arm to keep her put.

"Oh, this gonna be juicy," Chloe said in amusement watching Todd take a seat on a swing.

"You planning on telling people at school?"

Chloe didn't answer.

"Dude, don't. That's super low and uncalled for. Not to mention, it's none of our business and—" Beca cut herself off when Chloe gasped when she saw that Jacob, the boy Beca went out on a date with and who came out to her, joined Todd.

Chloe almost squealed and pulled her phone, "This is exciting!"

"Nope, you really don't wanna do that." Beca put her hand over Chloe's. "You know the times I said it's a bad idea it turned out that I was right?" Beca didn't wait for an answer, "This is one those times." She held Chloe's gaze until Chloe sighed, "fine."

Beca glanced at the two boys and wondered when they would get going. There was no way they could get out of there without the boys noticing them. "What was that?" Beca whispered hearing something moving in the bushes.

Chloe held on to Beca's arm as they eyed the moving bush then screamed when a raccoon jumped out of the bush.

"Who is there?!" Jacob exclaimed.

"Fuck!" Beca swore, taking a step back fearing the aggressive animal would attack them.

"Beca, what do we do?" Chloe whispered digging her fingers into Beca's arm. She got her answer when Beca started to run. Chloe glanced behind then and saw the two boys standing in front of the swings and hoped it was dark enough they didn't see them.

"Do you know this part of town? We are we going?" Chloe breathily asked while running as she blindly followed her best friend.

Beca settled for nodding and it was enough for Chloe as she headed towards Jesse's neighborhood which wasn't far. She knew how to get home from there.

* * *

Beca panted as she stopped running and bent down resting her hands on her knees to catch her breath. "There's no way they could find us now."

Chloe nodded and ran her fingers through her hair after stopping. "Beca, how far do you think we are from home?"

"Like half an hour," Beca answered as she straightened up. "I know a shortcut." She began to walk.

"Todd and Jacob." Chloe paused. "They actually make a cute couple." She sighed as she swung her hands back and forth. "You think he was so mean to Jimmy 'cause he was actually attracted to him?" Chloe asked as they walked.

"Dunno," Beca shrugged and looked at Jesse's house once they stepped foot in Jesse's neighborhood.

"Speaking of attraction." Chloe tilted her head to look at Beca. "How are things with Jesse?"

"Alright," Beca shrugged.

"When are you going to make things official?" she asked.

Beca snorted. " _'Make things official.'_ Who even talks like that?"

"Everyone." She paused. "Has he asked you to be his girlfriend?"

Beca shook her head. "Nope, he did not."

"Why?" Chloe frowned.

"We haven't been going out long enough, Chloe," Beca clicked her tongue. "I like how things are," she assured her friend.

Beca knew she liked Jesse but she didn't want to trap herself, nor him, into something so soon —or _ever_ if she were being honest. He seemed to understand without having to talk about it. And, it made her like him even more.

"Beca, is that you?" A pretty familiar voice called from behind.

Both Chloe and Beca tilted their heads.

"Ryan, hey," Beca greeted. "Um, Chloe, this is Ryan Jesse's brother." Beca gestured at the boy. "Ryan, Chloe my best friend."

"Hi," Chloe smiled at him.

"You here to see my idiot brother?" he asked.

Beca shook her head. "We were just passing by," she told him.

"Wait, Jesse lives here?" Chloe asked.

"Yep, that house over there." Ryan pointed at the house.

"Cool," Chloe nodded at tilted her head to look at Beca and gave her a look that said _'why didn't you tell me?'_

"It's getting dark; do you guys need a ride?" he asked.

"We'd love that," Chloe said before Beca could decline.

Beca glared at her. She shrugged.

"Cool. Well, I'm fifteen Can't drive yet; I'll get Jesse to chauffeur you." He started making his way to his home to get Jesse.

"Why did you do that?" Beca pinched Chloe's arm.

"Ow," Chloe exclaimed. "We ran a lot. I'm tired." She shrugged and rubbed the spot Beca pinched.

"You insisted we run that much!" Beca argued.

"Beca," Jesse called sounding both surprised and confused then looked at Chloe. "Chloe, Hey," Jesse said stepping out of the house in a pair of sweatpants. "What are you two doing here? You live on the other side of the town." He was walking as he talked.

"Just creeping around," Beca deadpanned and Jesse's chuckled thinking she was joking.

"We were checking out some stores and Becs said this way is the shortest back home," Chloe told him while watching the two and waiting to see how her entity of anxiety of a friend would greet her boyfriend who she refused to call her boyfriend because they haven't been together long enough _or something._

"Well, it's great seeing you," Jesse smiled at Chloe then looked back at Beca. He leaned in and placed a small peck on her cheek.

"C'mon." He unlocked his father's car and nodded for them to walk.

"Thank you, Jesse, we did a lot of _walking_ today," Chloe said while watching Beca who had a very stoic expression on her face.

"You are very welcome." They heard him say as he stepped into the driver seat.

Beca took the front seat and Chloe sat in the back seat.

"Jesse, drop me off at the first grocery store you find," Ryan said as he got inside the car as well and sat next to Chloe.

"Weren't you just out? Why didn't you stop at one on your way home?" Jesse asked, tilting his head to look at his brother.

"Because I thought we still had juice pouches," Ryan said in annoyance. "Dude, seriously, get help."

Jesse rolled his eyes and started the car.

"Didn't like anything?" Jesse wondered as he pulled out of the driveway—he noted how they had no shopping bags.

"Nope," Chloe said, popping the p at the end.

"Yeah, what were you planning to buy?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Dresses—" "—shoes," Chloe and Beca said in unison.

"Dresses and shoes," Beca said.

"Yep, we went to check those things" Chloe nodded.

"Okay," Jesse nodded then glanced at Beca when her phone rang.

Beca pulled her phone from her pocket and picked up seeing that it was her mother.

"Hello," Beca said the moment she brought her phone to her ear.

 _"Hey, honey,"_ her mother said.

"I'm on my home," she told her anticipating the question.

 _"Good, good, good. You think you could stop at a grocery store and get frosting?"_

"Frosting? You mean the one you put on cake?" Beca frowned.

 _"Uh-huh. I'm baking and the stuff we have isn't enough."_

"Well, yeah, sure, text me the brand and details. I'll get it."

 _"Great. You have enough cash on you?"_

"Yeah, it'll do."

 _"Thanks, honey."_

"Yeah, sure, no problem."

Beca looked at Jesse feeling his gaze after she had hung up. "Mom."

"Is she okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, wants me to grab something from the grocery store," she told him with a shrug, feeling a little uneasy about the slightly worried tone in Jesse's voice and hating the reason behind it— She really hated that he had to see her mother blacked out drunk.

* * *

They stopped at the first grocery store they found and Beca felt a little uneasy leaving Chloe alone with Jesse. She didn't know what to expect. Chloe had a devilish smirk on her face when Beca stepped out of the car. She tried to tell her friend not to do anything with a glare. And Chloe nodded understanding. Beca then glanced at Jesse who smiled meeting her gaze.

"Hey, Ryan you think you could grab Skittles for me?" Jesse asked as his brother and Beca walked toward the grocery store.

"Okay," his brother answered over his shoulder.

"So, Jesse," Chloe called after poking his shoulder. "How are things going?" she asked.

"Things are going great," he shrugged.

"What's new with you?" she continued with her questioning.

"I got a B plus on my algebra test thanks to Beca," he told her.

"She's been tutoring you?" Chloe asked in surprise because she knew how short Beca's temper was and how frustrated and mean she'd get whenever she tutored any of her friends—some people weren't meant to tutor and Beca was one of those people.

He nodded. "She's really good at mathematics. It's weird."

"Yeah. I have calculus with her and she is almost always asleep. I have no idea how she's so good at it."

"She's always sleepy, isn't she?" Jesse remarked.

"She's your girlfriend, you tell me," Chloe shrugged and looked out of the window. She felt Jesse's gaze on her and didn't look at him.

"Yeah, but she's your best friend and you see her more than I do," he said in the most casual tone he could mustard deciding not correct Chloe.

He liked the sound of it; Beca referred to as his girlfriend. He wished it was the case—he liked the think that they were headed that way but didn't want to scare her off and ask her to be his girlfriend so soon. He wondered when he'd actually get to call her that because she gave him a shit load of different vibes. Sometimes she'd seem to be very interested and other times she'd be distant and cold. Currently, it was the latter but he figured it was due to the fact his brother and her best friend were with them—she was slightly different when they were alone, with an emphasis on slightly. She was always her snarky self but she'd allow more physical contact—nothing sexual, of course, they haven't gotten to that area yet.

At the same time, Beca was reading the text her mother sent her with details in regards of the frosting and Ryan was grabbing juice pouches.

"What is with you Swanson boys and juice pouches?" Beca asked looking up.

"I like 'em," he shrugged. "I have to hide them from Jesse, though; otherwise he'll finish them in a couple of days."

"Yeah, he's got a bit of a problem I noticed," she nodded recalling what he said in the car.

"You could help him fix his juice addiction like you help him with his meth problem."

Beca snickered at the pun, locked her phone, and looked up to find him grinning so she smiled.

"I'll try," she said.

"Thank you. You'll be helping the whole family…financially."

* * *

Oh, I love this song," Jesse said as he raised the volume up when Somebody to Love by Queen started playing.

Chloe nodded along while Jesse sang then chuckled when he began strumming the air guitar when he got so into it. Beca and Ryan happened to be walking out of the store so he turned to them and sang to Beca who just rolled her eyes meeting his gaze.

"This is embarrassing," Ryan said to Beca noting the way some people were looking at his brother, as they got closer to the car. Beca held back a smile when Jesse pointed at her. She thought it was quite adorable but wouldn't admit it.

"Hey, where are you going?" Jesse asked his brother who tossed him the Skittles and didn't get in the car.

"Home," Ryan answered. "I don't even know how you have any friends," he mumbled as he walked away.

Jesse chuckled and opened the Skittles bag offering to Beca and Chloe after throwing one in his mouth.

Beca reached to take one herself after Chloe but Jesse pulled the bag away from her.

"Which one you like best, Becs?" he asked.

"Orange ones. Why?" she arched an eyebrow.

He pulled the orange ones then smirked and tossed them into his mouth. "If you want them, take them," he mumbled as he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Whatever, I'll take another color," she mumbled. Chloe reached over and snatched it from Jesse's hand.

"Fine. No Skittles," Beca shrugged and sat back. Jesse was disappointed that she wouldn't kiss him in front of her friend but smiled when she looked back at him. He swallowed the sweets and started the car.

He was about to pull out of the parking lot when he heard Beca unbuckle her seatbelt. He tilted his head and was about to tell her to wear it back when she sat up and pulled him to her by his hoodie. She kissed him softly at first and he kissed her back then had to hold on to the steering wheel when he felt her tongue licking his bottom lip and he automatically opened his mouth for her.

She kept teasing him with her tongue and it was driving him nuts.

He tried to lean in further but his seatbelt held him back which amused Beca who he felt smile against his lips. She nibbled his lip then willed herself to pull away.

Jesse was out of breath when she pulled away. He out of breath and embarrassed—Beca quickly glanced down at his lap and arched an eyebrow before she sat back in her seat and busied herself buckling her seatbelt.

"I-I." Jesse cleared his throat. "I'll be right back," Jesse mumbled and unfastened his seatbelt and stepped out of the car.

"You're awful," Chloe giggled extending the Skittles for Beca.

Beca was still trying to control her breathing as she reached to take a Skittle and pop it into her mouth.

* * *

"Thanks for the ride, Jesse," Chloe said and unlocked the door.

"Sure," he smiled at her then looked at Beca who was still sitting next to him.

Beca waited until Chloe got inside her home before she tilted her head Jesse's way.

"I'm sorry _things_ got a little out of control earlier," Beca apologized because Jesse was quiet for the rest of the ride clearly very embarrassed by the boner he got from their impromptu make out in front of Chloe.

"I started it," he shrugged and gave her a small genuine smile.

"I shouldn't have done that to you in a parking lot and certainly not in front of Chloe," she chuckled humorlessly.

"It's fine, Becs," he assured her.

"Well, it wasn't just you," she mumbled after a beat.

He shifted in his seat as the way things escalated made sense to him.

"Um, I'm getting my car in a couple days finally," Beca hesitantly started to say. "Wanna go somewhere?" she nervously wondered.

"Beca Mitchell, are you asking if we could go make out in your car?" he asked in amusement knowing that he had to make her feel that what she was asking was totally fine and she had no reason to be anxious. "I'd love to make out with you in your car—or anywhere really," he shrugged. "If you say let's go make out in a corn maze where people were murdered at in a mass murder by Jason Voorhees, on a Friday 13th, I wouldn't think twice before dragging you the exact opposite way because you're a suicidal lunatic!"

"You're such a dork," Beca snickered unbuckling her seatbelt then leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Good night," she said as she reached for the door to unlock it.

"Can I go with when you go to take your car from the mechanic?" he asked.

(Her father was giving her his classic car that was meant to be hers ever since she got her drivers license but didn't because of her mother's worries.)

"Sure," she answered and smiled at him before leaving the car.

* * *

 **AN:** Aloha, my fellow humans. I hope your holidays are going great... Happy new year, or whatever... New year resolutions are stupid.

If you liked this leave a word in a review. I'd very much love to hear your thoughts.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:** Hello, people. It's been a while. I've been trying to finish Carried Away so I kinda put this one on hold. Writing more than a story at a time is pretty hard and I don't know how people do it. It's creatively draining... I have a cold and feeling like total shit but being sick means more time to write so here's something I hope that you'd like. And sorry if it bores you out.

* * *

Jesse loved spring break for one reason—well it was a few reasons but if he were asked to give the one thing he enjoyed about break he'd lump all of the reasons in one word: _chilling._

He loved chilling at home: Marathoning his favorite movie series and playing video games.

It was heaven for him.

"Jesse, don't forget to mow the lawn," Mrs. Swanson reminded as she grabbed her purse from the coffee table where her son was resting his feet as he played Mortal Kombat with Donald.

"Why can't Ryan do it?" Jesse complained not tearing his eyes away from the fighting game.

"Because he's at his soccer practice and gets home tired and you're home all day," Mrs. Swanson said in boredom then sighed. "Would you do it if I pay you ten bucks?" she negotiated with her son.

"Twenty," Jesse tried bargaining.

"Fine," she shook her head, pulled a twenty dollars note from her wallet, and gave it to him. "Just do it, Jesse." She paced out of the house in a hurry because she was late for her shift at the hospital where she worked as a nurse.

"Bye, Mrs. S," Donald absentmindedly said.

They faintly heard her say. "Don't set the house on fire." Before she pulled the door behind her.

"Ten bucks if you mow it and let me take the credit?" Jesse offered.

"Fifteen," Donald curly said.

"Fuck off," Jesse snorted.

"Dude," Donald exclaimed in annoyance when Jesse hit pause and grabbed his phone seeing that Beca texted him.

Beca: **'Okay.'**

He grinned because she just agreed to come over and play Mortal Kombat against him after he told her he'd kick her ass at it.

Jesse: **'If I win you mow our lawn.'**

Beca: **'WHEN I win you clean Mitchell Sr.'**

Jesse snickered at what she called her car.

Jesse: **'Your car is a trash box.'**

Beca: **'I hope you know how to get Blood off of upholstery.'**

Jesse: **'Did you kill someone?'**

Beca: **'No comment.'**

"Ow. Why did you do that?!" Jesse exclaimed when Donald threw the controller at him hitting him in the head.

"Need I remind you of the rules of playing a video game?"

"No, because they aren't any—"

"—Rule numero uno: your girlfriend can wait, the game can't," Donald proceeded to say ignoring Jesse.

"Okay, you just made that up," Jesse said after a beat and tossed Donald the controller. "Let's finish this up 'cause Beca is coming over," he said as he rubbed his head.

* * *

Hearing a car pull over in front of the house, Jesse looked out of the window and spotted Beca's black classic Chevy also known as Mitchell Senior.

 _Play it cool, Swanson_ —Jesse said to himself.

"Am I getting kicked out right now?" Donald wondered as he looked out of the window as well.

"Nah, you can stay," Jesse shrugged.

He was totally not a hormonal teenager that would dream about making out with the girl that was walking towards his home. He most certainly wasn't keeping Donald around in an attempt to keep things appropriate and not scare Beca off.

"Beca, get in. It's unlocked," Jesse said in a loud enough voice for Beca to hear when she knocked.

"Hi," she greeted, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Hi yourself," Jesse grinned watching Beca take off her sunglasses and wear them over her hair. He was pleasantly surprised by the lack of heavy makeup—he liked her alt vibes but it was nice to see her take it down a notch with the angry-at-the-world look. She was sporting plaids, that she left unbuttoned, over a black tight tank matching them with black skinny jeans and boots, which were black as well. The lack of makeup was the only change.

"This is Donald, you remember him, right?" he said when she arched an eyebrow at the way he kept staring.

"Yep," Beca nodded and made her way to them in the living area where they sat on a couch facing a huge TV.

"How is it going?" Donald asked her.

"All right," she shrugged.

"No, finish your game. I'm not in a rush to kick Jesse's ass," Beca said to Donald when he sat up and held the controller her way.

"I wanna watch you kick his ass," Donald handed her the controller then scooted to the right making space for her to sit between him and Jesse.

* * *

"Suck on that, Swanson!" Beca exclaimed after having kicked Jesse's ass.

"You cheated!" he tried to argue.

"Dude, she beat you in record time," Donald laughed.

"No, she cheated. You didn't see her: I did!"

Beca didn't cheat per se. She just distracted Jesse with her cleavage and lip biting. And as a heterosexual 16-year-old boy he fell for it.

"You're so sneaky," Jesse shook his head. Beca could barely keep the grin off her face as she pulled her keys from her pocket.

"I believe this is the part where you stop whining and to go clean my trash box." She held the keys his way.

Jesse snatched her keys from her hand then got up.

Donald snickered watching Jesse huff as he made his way to the front door then tilted his head to look at Beca.

"Wanna play 'til Jesse's done?" he wondered.

"Sure," Beca shrugged and passed him a controller.

"Beca?" Jesse called as he walked back inside the house less than a minute later. "Your car is spotless," he said in confusion.

"Yeah, I might have cleaned it up yesterday because I was bored." She shrugged. "I just wanted to mess with you," she glanced at him.

"Well, what do I do now?" he wondered.

"Mow the lawn maybe?" Donald suggested.

"It's boring," Jesse complained.

"Sing while you're at it. That will get you through it. I'm sure your neighbors would just love a free concert," Beca said. "Dude, what the hell, move," Beca tried to look past Jesse when he stood right in front of her and kept her from seeing the TV screen.

"Beca, you know I struggle to finish a task," he started to say.

"Yes, because you have the attention span of the 3-year-old," she said as she played finally having found a comfortable enough angle to look at the TV.

"And, you're way too levelheaded for a sixteen-year-old girl, which by the way is very odd."

"Thanks?" she said not sure if he had complimented her or was insulting her.

"Beca," Jesse called as he poked her shoulder.

"Could you just get to the point?" Beca looked up after hitting pause—distracting Jesse aside, she was actually good at video games that involved a lot of violence and didn't want to lose.

"Keep me company while I mow the lawn?" He gave her puppy eyes as he spoke.

"Why would I do that? It's hot as hell outside."

"Is that why you're barely wearing makeup?" he ran a hand over her face gently pushing her head back. "So that you don't look like you're a melting ice cream?"

"Nope, I just ran out of black eyeshadow." She glared at the grin he was sporting.

Jesse hopped next to her and threw an arm around her shoulder pulling her to him.

"To answer your question: because you like me enough to keep me company as I go through the hardship of labor that is mowing the lawn," he said in a matter of fact tone.

"You make it sound like you're going to mow a stadium with a pair of scissors," Beca said in amusement as she held his gaze.

He pecked her lips and watched her uncomfortably shift and look at the ceiling—he, of course, knew why.

"Beat it, Donald," Jesse said to his friend.

"I'll be at Benji's," Donald informed as he hopped off the couch.

Donald had just pulled the door behind him when Beca leaned up and kissed Jesse while he ran his hand up and down her arm.

"I'm a little offended that you wouldn't kiss when we're not alone," Jesse mumbled as they kissed.

"Can you blame me for wanting a little privacy?" she asked. He shook his head and deepened the kiss.

"You're a really bad _friend_ , you know that?" Jesse said once she pulled away panting, grateful she did because he really had a hard time pulling away—she was the one with the better self-control.

"Nope. I personally think that I'm a pretty awesome _friend_." She shrugged while playing with his hair.

"You're keeping me from mowing the lawn. You are a pretty awesome _distraction_ ," he said earning a chuckle.

"I better leave then." She was quick on her feet and he was quick to sit up. "No, don't go." He took her hand, interlocking their fingers, and pulled her back to sit on the couch. "I like having you around," he confessed.

"And I like being around you," she mumbled as she looked at their interlocked fingers and felt him place a kiss on her temple.

"Okay, here's an idea to help you through the lawn mowing," Beca looked up from their hands.

"I'm listening," he nodded for her to keep going.

"We play two truth one lie," she suggested.

"Into it," he slowly nodded.

"Cool," she smiled then got up and pulled him up with her.

"Okay, I'll start," Jesse said as they walked to the garage so that he could retrieve the lawnmower.

"I'm a really great swimmer. I can play the harmonica. I can finish a pizza in a span of 5 minutes."

"Hmm." Beca took a second to think as he swung their hands. "I'm gonna go with the harmonica one 'cause I think you would have bragged about it by now."

"Wrong."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I can play it really well," he shared with Beca.

"What's the lie then?" she wondered.

"I can't swim." He grimaced and let go of her hand to get inside the garage.

"Holy shit, Swanson!"

"I know," he sighed. "You could always teach me, you know? Since you're such an excellent tutor," he said and pushed the button that opened the garage door that led to the front yard then went to get the lawnmower.

"Yeah, I don't think teaching math is on the same level as teaching someone how to swim." She followed him out of the garage and to the front yard then wore her sunglasses.

"Okay, your turn," he told her then started the machine.

"I can hold my breath for two minutes. I have never gotten drunk. I once made my cousin touch tongue with me when I was 9," she spoke loudly so that he could hear her over the noise the lawnmower was making.

Jesse stopped mowing the lawn and turned to look at her. "The last one."

"Nope," Beca shook her head.

"You kissed your cousin?" he arched an eyebrow.

"And I think it really messed her up," Beca grimaced. "Hey don't judge me. I was nine and thought it would be funny!" she added when he wouldn't stop staring.

"I'm not judging you. Just soaking up this piece of information." He went back to the task at hand. "What's the lie then? The second one?"

"Yeah, no, I never got drunk. I'm too paranoid to lose my sobriety," she told him.

"Becs, you could loosen up a little. The world won't end if you have a little fun."

"I can have fun without getting drunk," she shrugged. "The light buzz is enough." She crossed her legs at her ankles. "Your turn."

Jesse nodded then said, "I'm a champ at shoplifting. I got hit on a woman my mom's age. I almost broke Ryan's neck when I was 12."

"I'm gonna go with the shoplifting. You don't seem like the type that would even dare shoplift."

"You are correct," he admitted.

"I wanna know how you got hit on by a middle aged woman," Beca told him.

"Ugh," he shivered at the unpleasant memory. "I was with my mom at the mall. She went into to try on some clothes and left me all alone. This woman nearby started talking to me. I, of course, engaged in the conversation. Then it started to take a really odd path and I'm glad mom came back when she did." He paused. "The woman actually pinched me in the butt cheek," he said.

"When was this?" Beca asked, amused by the story.

"Like a year ago," he shrugged.

"And how did you almost break your brother's neck?" she wondered.

"Oh, I was trying my WWE moves on him," he casually told her.

"I used to play wrestling with my cousin."

"Same one you kissed?"

"Yeah, Kenzie," Beca nodded. "I once pushed her; she fell and lost a tooth. Thank god it was a baby tooth."

"Remind me to never wrestle with you," Jesse said in mock-fear.

"You almost broke your brother's neck. I'm the one who should fear for their life."

Jesse shrugged in response. "At least I didn't kiss him."

"You're gonna make me regret telling, aren't you?" she said.

* * *

30 minutes later, Jesse finished mowing the lawn and learned many things about Beca while letting her know an awful lot of stuff about himself.

"Wanna grab a bite, weirdo?" Jesse asked as he threw an arm around Beca's shoulder while they looked at the freshly mowed lawn. "I know how to make Nachos," he added watching her push her glasses up her nose.

"Anyone with half a brain can pull of Nachos," Beca shrugged.

"Well, I make really good Nachos," he told as he turned around and turned her with him guiding her back to the house.

"Wow me, Swanson," Beca said as they walked to the kitchen.

Beca hopped on the kitchen island. She watched Jesse pulled the ingredients and place them near her.

Jesse whistled We Both Reached For The Gun from Chicago as he prepared the plate and by the time he placed it in the microwave and set the timer he had sung the whole soundtrack.

"Hey, Becs?" Jesse called as he rested his palms on the kitchen island. "We've been out on a few dates that I think went well."

She nodded when he paused, agreeing. Yeah, she had fun and even suggested when and where they should go on their next date.

"You think we're there yet?" he wondered.

Beca knew what he meant by _there_. He wanted to know if they reached the R-word stage.

"I really like you, Beca," he sincerely said.

"I like you, too," she replied. "But, I'm weird about this stuff, Jesse. I don't know how to move things. I just know that the way things are is fine. I like hanging out with you. I like going out on dates with you."

"You don't know how to move things forward or you don't want to?" He straightened up.

"Both," she sighed.

"So, you just wanna keep hanging out?" he wondered sounding a little hurt which encouraged Beca to sack up and give him a valid explanation or at least try to give an explanation.

"The reason why I don't want to label things is." She paused when he looked up. "I won't meet your expectations. And once we finish high school we will reach a parting of the ways." She made a motion of taking different directions with her hands then said, "And it would suck big time."

"Beca, are you seeing someone else?" he asked.

"What?" She frowned. She just told him she's insecure in the relationship department and his question made her wonder if he was listening to her. "No. Just you," she answered him.

"Same here. Just you," he said. "Which means we're already dating exclusively. You got nothing to worry about, Becs. You're really good at the whole thing." He reached for her hands and held them when he was standing right in front of her. "We're pretty compatible, Becs." He smiled and she found herself smiling back. "As for the breaking up because of college, it wouldn't be for another year." Jesse shrugged. "And you really shouldn't be thinking about that. Besides, it will suck whether we'd be dating or just friends. And we can't change that. You're way smarter than me so you will probably get into a college that I wouldn't dream of going to." His words made her chuckle. "So, can we just act our age and enjoy each other's company fully while we can?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Beca uneasily said as she nodded her head.

"Of course, I'm right," he said earning an eye roll from Beca. "I really like you and I love spending time with you. And I know you do, too," he knowingly said.

"Yeah, I just told you, Sherlock," she commented.

"As long as we like each other we will continue to date. And seeing you're pretty damn mature for your age you'll warm me up to the inevitable breakup the summer before college. And we will continue to be friends 'cause I don't wanna lose you. I want to be in great terms with you 'cause you're pretty awesome and you make great playlists. You down with that future ex-girlfriend?" He flashed her a dorky grin.

"Yeah," she chuckled. "So, now what?" she wondered with a shrug.

"Now, I can stop correct everyone when they refer to you as my girlfriend."

"Oh, so you do actually correct them?" Beca said in amusement.

"Sometimes," he shrugged, still grinning and tilted his head just enough their noses wouldn't bump when she leaned in to kiss him.

Jesse found himself wondering if she'd become more affectionate with him in public now that she finally agreed to be his girlfriend then figured that holding hands would be the only kind of affection she'd allow in public. That's how she rolled and he was willing to roll with it and resist the urge to be obnoxiously affectionate with her in public.

"So, does this usually happen when people get together?" Beca asked pulling away. "Do people usually discuss when they're going to break up the very same day they decide to become a thing?"

"No, I don't think they do," he shrugged.

"I thought so, too," Beca nodded.

"Nachos are ready!" Jesse said hearing the microwave beep.

"It smells awesome, Jesse," Beca hopped off the kitchen island and followed Jesse to the couch.

"Wanna watch something?" he asked her as he sat down and placed the plate on his lap.

"Nope, let's play," she took a seat next to him and pulled her hair up in a lazy bun.

"Under one condition," he said as he brought a nacho to his mouth. "Button your plaids," he told her.

"Okay," she chuckled and proceeded to button the first few buttons. "Can we play now?"

He nodded. "And don't bite your lip," he added as he handed the controller.

"Can't help that one, Jesse. It's part of my concentration face. Deal with it."

"Ugh. Okay," he deadpanned and loaded the game because he knew she wasn't lying about the lip thing—it was one of those things that distracted him from whatever she'd be teaching him.

"Winner gets what?" Jesse asked.

"A piggyback ride around the neighborhood," she told him.

"Dude, do you want to break your back?" he wondered.

"No. It's because I'm gonna win." She shrugged and tilted her head to eat the Nacho he held her way.

"You wish," he nudged her. "Winner gets to post something on the other's Instagram?" he suggested.

"Oh, even better," she spoke as she chewed. "You gonna have to look at the TV if you wanna win, Jesse," Beca said feeling his gaze.

Jesse tilted his head towards the TV and sighed a happy sigh.

He definitely liked chilling at home better with Beca around and could really get used to having her over to beat him at video games when she's not tutoring him Algebra or making out with him or maybe someday watching movies with him.


	8. Chapter 8

Beca was reading The Great Gatsby for her English class. Well, the book was cracked open in her lap while listened to different songs on her go-to website to discover new music: the music ninja

She looked up from her laptop when she heard a knock on her door.

"Jesse, hey," Beca greeted in surprise. She knew he was coming over just didn't expect him to come over so soon. "Mom let you in?" She tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear feeling self-cautious.

"Yep," he nodded and shrugged off his back bag. "She said to just come up 'cause you probably have headphones on and wouldn't hear her calling you down," he explained as he looked around the room.

"Wow, your room is very you." He walked to a shelf where vinyl records were stacked.

"Thanks?" Beca put a bookmark and closed the book before she climbed off the bed.

"What are you reading?" He grabbed the book.

"I have to write a paper about it," Beca waved it off.

"You're actually reading The Great Gatsby?" he wondered. "You know there's a movie, right?" He flipped through the book then looked up. "They made a movie based on this book starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role."

"Great, now his face is stuck in my head. Thanks for ruining how I pictured Jay Gatsby," Beca deadpanned then fought back a smile when he tossed the book and took her hand pulling her to him.

"Sorry," he apologized and pecked her lips. "I'll just sit over there until you're done with your reading," he nodded at her desk.

"No, I'm bored with the book. Let's do some maths."

"I tried to focus in class so I kinda know what's happening but I will pretend to be clueless anyway because I don't want you to stop tutoring me thinking I can do without your help," he told her as he unzipped his back bag.

"Okay," she said in amusement.

* * *

"Jesse, I know it's tricky, but you have to get this. It's not hard once you get the hang of it," Beca sighed as she rested her hand on the desk and looked at the notebook Jesse was writing on as he sat on her desk chair.

"Why do they even teach us this stuff, Becs?" Jesse looked up. "When exactly in our lives after school will we be using any of this shit?"

"We won't be using them in day to day life but if you're gonna study say engineering or accounting you will really need to know the basics," she explained as she ran her fingers through her hair. "So, stop complaining and focus," she said.

"I don't plan on majoring in these fields."

"Jesse, are we really talking about this right now?"

"Can we take a break?" he wondered.

"Five minutes," she told him and tossed the pen.

"What's up with you?" he asked watching her huff before she walked to her bed and laid on her back.

"Nothing," she said after a beat.

"I don't believe you," he shrugged then scooted in the chair towards her bed. "So, wanna tell me what's going on?" he asked and kicked off his shoe so he could kick her in the shin when she tilted her head to look at him.

"It's just dad," she vaguely answered and rubbed her temples.

"You guys had a fight?" he asked, pushing her to share more.

"No." She looked up at the ceiling and interlocked her fingers resting her hands on her stomach. "It's his girlfriend. I don't really like her and their thing looks pretty serious," she clicked her tongue.

"You think he's gonna ask her to marry him?"

"I don't think he's gonna ask her to marry him: I _know_ he's gonna ask her to marry him."

"Well." Jesse paused unsure of what to say next. "Aren't you happy for him now that found someone to share his life with?"

"I'm not selfish, I know he deserves to be happy," she clarified. "It's just weird, Jesse." She tilted her head to look at him. "I know this is for the better. I know the fact that my parents split up was for the better. Believe me, there were times when I wanted to tell them to just let it go and stop trying to save a failed relationship." She stopped realizing she was oversharing and that she never really talked to anyone about her family.

Jesse had a thoughtful looked on his face as he held her gaze. He hummed then scooted to her desk grabbing his notebook along with a pen before he scooted back near her bed.

"What did go wrong with them if you don't mind me asking?" Jesse wondered pretending to be a shrink and pushed his imaginary glasses up, smiling when he heard her snicker.

"Dad had an affair with Ms. Merritt," Beca found herself telling him as she went back to eyeing the ceiling.

"Seventh grade English teacher Ms. Merritt?" Jesse checked.

"Yeah, that bitch," Beca nodded.

"That explains why you changed schools in the middle of the year," Jesse said in realization.

"Mom felt like an idiot because she didn't suspect a thing until dad came clean so she made me change school so that I wouldn't be within reach of that woman," Beca explained.

"I'm sorry, Becs," he said.

"It's okay." She shrugged.

"No, it's not," he disagreed. "It sucks. It really sucks!" He drummed the pen on his notebook when she didn't say anything and sighed.

"Is your dad still with her?" Jesse wondered.

"No. You see dad ended the affair after a while and came running back to mom," she deadpanned. "They tried to make it work. It's quite amazing how hard they tried. Took them like a year and a half to see that they were wasting their time.—Now you know. Can we go back to studying?" she said resting her weight on her elbows as she looked at him.

"You're in a crap mood to be tutoring and quite frankly I don't want to get on your bad side. So, enough studying for the day," he declared as he placed the pen in the notebook before he closed it and tossed on her desk.

"C'mon, we're going out." He grabbed the shoe he removed before he kicked her in the shin.

"Where?" she asked.

"I haven't figured that part out yet," he admitted then got up. "It's Friday anyway, Beca. We're not supposed to study after school on Friday everyone knows that."

"Jesse you picked the day," she reminded him.

"It was a mistake on my behalf and you should have said no," he quipped as he gathered his school stuff and shoved them into his back bag. "C'mon." He wore his back bag.

Beca thought about it for a second. "I know where we should go," she said and grabbed a light jacket she could stuff her keys and phone its pockets and wore it.

"Where?" he wondered.

"Hold on a minute," she said as she typed on her phone.

"Okay." Jesse adjusted the strap on his shoulder and watched her text.

"All right, let's go." She slipped her phone into her pocket and followed him out of her bedroom.

"Mom," Beca called as they walked down the stairs.

"I'm in the kitchen." She heard her mother say and walked past Jesse pacing to the kitchen. "I'm going out. I'll be home before ten," she informed her mother.

"Beca, your dad has been wondering when you're going to spend a few days with him. I thought you'd go over to his place this weekend."

"Yeah, I'm gonna skip on that."

"I won't force you to go but you can't just shut him out of your life." She paused to sigh. "And, we have shared custody of you… just please go see your dad, Beca."

Beca pursed her lips together. "I'll spend the weekend at his place."

"Thank you, honey," she smiled at her daughter.

"Sure, well then see you Sunday," Beca shrugged and accepted the hug she got from her mom.

* * *

"Everything okay?" Jesse asked as he leaned against Beca's car waiting for her.

"Yeah, I just had to pack some clothes." She paused shrugging her back bag off her shoulder. "I'm spending the weekend at dad's," she told him as she opened the car truck and tossed her back bag inside it.

"So, where are we going?" he asked as he straightened up.

"Right." Beca pulled the door open and climbed inside the car. "I don't know the place so we're gonna make a stop at Stacie's place and pick her, Amy, and Chloe up 'cause they're the ones that told me of this place."

"And what is this place?" he questioned slowly.

"A frat house. We're headed to a frat party. The girls were gonna make me go but I had already made plans with you."

"You didn't think to mention this when I asked you to tutor me?" He arched an eyebrow.

"I don't like frat parties that much." She shrugged and started the car.

* * *

"Make good choices," Beca called after her friends as she watched them step inside the house while she and Jesse followed them.

"See you later," Chloe snapped her fingers as she spoke.

"Wanna play some beer pong?" Jesse asked once he and Beca were inside the house. "I'll drink most of the beer," he added knowing that she would be driving later and had already told him that she's basically terrified of losing control.

"Okay," she agreed. "Let's do this."

* * *

Jesse hollered when he managed to drop the ping-pong ball into the red solo cup.

"That's right, bottoms up!" he nodded watching one of the boys they were playing against picking the cup.

Beca grimaced at how loud he was. As it turned out, Jesse was a lightweight and the drunker he got the louder he became.

"C'mon, Becs, show 'em who's the boss," he cheered watching her as she was about to toss the tiny ball. She blew a breath then threw it and missed.

"No, I got it," Jesse told her as he took a cup when she reached to grab one. He rested his hand on her shoulder while chugging down the beer. He whooped slamming the cup down then used the back of his sleeve to wipe his lips.

* * *

"You're really drunk right now," Beca noted as she and Jesse walked away from the beer pong table after they lost.

"I'm not drunk at all you're just blurry," he shrugged and squeezed her hand when she took it in hers.

"Chug, chug, chug…" they heard chanting and tilted their heads to see Fat Amy doing the keg stand.

Beca rolled her eyes when Jesse dragged her to where Amy stood.

"Feel the fat power!" Amy exclaimed once she was down on her feet then drummed on her belly once the cheers got louder.

"Wanna go somewhere quiet and make out?" Beca asked. They had been officially dating for three weeks and she was starting to get used to the whole dating thing. She felt bad for him because he had to put up with her slow pace.

"Yes!" He rapidly nodded.

"C'mon," she grinned and pulled him with her towards the staircase.

"Beca, is that you?" She heard someone called so she tilted her head.

"Scott?" Beca said spotting the DJ that worked at the same radio as her. (No one in her life knew about the radio station gig.)

"What are you doing here?" he asked glancing at Jesse.

"What's it look like I'm doing?" she replied with a question.

"No," he chuckled. "It's just that I didn't expect to see you here," he casually told her. "I'm Scott, Beca and I work together," he said to Jesse.

"Um, this is Jesse, my boyfriend," she gestured at Jesse with her free hand.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend," Scott said in surprise.

"Well, we don't really know each other, Scott, now, do we?" Beca said.

"No, not really," he agreed. "Well, it was great running into you."

"Likewise," she smiled at him before she and Jesse took the stairs.

"I never saw him at the shelter before," Jesse noted as he glanced behind him.

Beca nodded as she looked around for an empty room and dragged him with her. Locking the door behind her, it hit her that she was in a room at a frat house with her very wasted boyfriend.

"I'm not gonna have sex with you," Beca blurted out feeling him place a hand on her waist.

"Yeah, I know," Jesse nodded. "You said you wanted to make out."

She relaxed a little then wrapped her arms around his neck as he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.

He walked backward to one of the twin beds in the room and sat on it never breaking the kiss while she climbed on his lap.

An involuntary giggle escaped from Beca when Jesse picked her up and very clumsily laid her on the bed before he climbed on top of her.

* * *

"Hey, Becs," Jesse said pulling away from a deep kiss. "Did you know that Daft Punk are actually French?" he asked.

"What?" she frowned.

"Daft Punk, you know? Did you know they're French? I found out the other day when I was googling them because I wanted to see what they looked like. They weren't deformed. They were just pulling a Sia. Wait, Sia started the not showing her face thing after they did since they've been around longer than she has. So she pulled a Daft Punk and not the other way around," he thoughtfully said. "Well, did you?" he nodded at her when she kept looking at him.

"You're so weird," Beca said. "And, no I didn't know. Thank you for this totally random trivia that will _surely_ come in handy one day."

"You never know, Becs. You could end up on one of those game shows or you could be someone's lifeline in one of those game shows and they ask about the nationalities of the Daft Punk duo," he shrugged.

"I can't believe this is what's going through your mind while we're making out." She paused. "Is this the kind of thing you'd be thinking about when we're making out?" She arched an eyebrow.

"No, it varies." He rolled off her then laid on his side. "What goes through your mind when we're making out?" he asked.

"Not Daft Punk," she answered resting her weight on her elbows.

"What was going through your mind just now?" He hiccupped.

"Pass," she said after a beat.

"Oh cmon, Beca. Wait, was it inappropriate?" he wondered. "It would make sense if it's inappropriate," he shrugged.

"No, strangely it wasn't," she shook her head.

"What then? Food?" He ran his fingers up her arm.

"I was trying to remember if I packed an extra pair of underwear," she told him.

"Why?" he frowned. "Oh!" he exclaimed when she tilted her head to scowl at him. "Already?" he snickered.

"Shut up. And, I'm mildly turned on. Besides, If it weren't for the beer you had would have had a boner by now," she told him as she took a lock of her hair between her fingers and started twirling it.

"I'm not denying that." He ran his fingers through his hair then stretched. "Hey, what's it like?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"What's it like down there when you're _aroused_?" He rested his cheek on her palm.

"I don't know," she exhaled. "It's like a tingle, I guess. A weird itch."

"That's interesting."

"What's like to have a boner?" She laid on her side to face him.

"It's like flexed muscle," he answered after a beat.

"Hmm, the more you know."

"I have a question that I'd understand if you decide not to answer." He paused.

"Okay, keep going," she nodded.

"As a girl, is losing your virginity as painful as everyone says or is that an exaggeration?" he asked. "I've never been with a girl virgin or not, I wouldn't know," he casually said.

Beca kept looking at him then sighed. "It hurt so much," she told him. "I underestimated how painful it would be!"

"Jesus," Jesse frowned.

"Yeah, no one really prepared me for that," she said. "Spread the knowledge, dude, if you hear anyone is getting it on with a virgin tell them to use lube. Lots and lots of lube."

"Lube. Got it," he clicked his tongue and made a checking gesture.

"The girls still think I'm a virgin," she shared with him.

"Well, it's not something one would casually talk about. Like if you're in a long-term relationship one could assume. I mean I don't think I'd just randomly bring it up."

"I second that," she agreed then held his gaze as she debated whether she should go ahead and tell him how she lost her virginity or not. She was itching to let someone know but an opportunity never presented itself.

"What's you got up there?" He poked her head.

"I lost it to a guy I met at a camp my parents sent me to last summer. They were fighting so much at that point and thought I could use a break. At least that's what I like to think was the reason because that camp sucked!" she told him.

"It hurt, huh?" he grimaced.

"I wanted to push him away from me because of how painful it was," she sighed.

"Why didn't you?"

"Because you're supposed to ease into it and it stops to hurt eventually," she shrugged.

"Oh, okay," he nodded. "I am learning a lot tonight, Becs."

"Except I didn't get to ease into it because he came too fast so I just rolled him away and left. It was the night before we went home. So that part was great."

"That sucks," he said after a beat.

"Yeah." She sat up.

"Well the one time I got close to doing the deed I lost my boner because we were in the basement and heard some pretty odd noises," he told her.

"You got scared you lost your erection?" she chuckled. "That's embarrassing."

"Very embarrassing," he nodded. "I couldn't look the girl in the eye again and we have a lot of classes together."

"Poor you." She patted his cheek when he pouted. "So how did we go from making out to Daft Punk to exchanging sex stories or almost sex stories?" she wondered.

"Here's a better question." He sat up as well. "Do you think we could make a detour and go back to making out?" he asked.

She pretended to think for a second then pushed him down and pressed her lips against his.

"You really love being on top, don't you?" Jesse said in amusement when she climbed on top of him. She nodded and ran her fingers through his hair as they kissed.

"So bossy." He ran his hand up her side and stopped at ribcage. She nodded again and pulled away moving to his neck.

"Becs?"

Her reply was a hum.

"Talk dirty to me?" he pulled his head back.

"Um, no," she shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why?" wondered as he caressed her thigh.

"I will probably be so awkward at it," she deadpanned tilting her head to look at him.

"So what? I mean I know I will very likely say the corniest shit to you and you'll laugh at me," he shrugged. "But!" he exclaimed moving the hand that was on her thigh to place on her butt. "And that's like a big enough but Sir Mix A Lot would rap about."

"Uh-huh."

"One day, it will work. I'll learn to say the right things to make you drape yourself all over me." He dug his fingers into her jeans.

Beca held back a smile and rolled her eyes at him.

"Trust me, Beca, practice makes progress."

"You talk a lot more when you're drunk," she noted. "Did you know that?"

He shrugged in response.

"We are never making out when you're drunk." She patted his chest.

"Whatever way you want, Becs." He paused. "Just like the great Journey sang, ' _Any way you want it. That's the way you need it. Any way you want it. Oooo. '_ " he sang to Beca off-key on purpose and got her to laugh.

She leaned in and kissed him on the lips then shook her head, knowing it was going to be awkward but Jesse had a point, before took his earlobe between her teeth and said, "I've been a very bad girl." In a weak attempt at dirty talk. She closed her eyes in disbelief at her choice of word. _Thanks, porn._

"Why? What did you do?" he asked shifting a little.

And she had nothing to say.

"Um. I let the back door open on purpose at my dad's house because I saw a raccoon lurking and I wanted it to give my dad's girlfriend a scare," she shook her head once the words left her mouth.

"What?" he laughed.

"It attacked her," she pulled her head back.

"Oh, you are a very, very bad girl," he agreed as he continued to laugh.

"Stop laughing and try," she challenged.

"Okay," he nodded once he could control his laughing fit. "Okay," he cleared his throat then tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "I wanna know what you want without waiting for you to tell me," he started to say. "Like, would you like it if I rubbed my hand slowly up and down your back?" he wondered as he slowly ran his hand up her back. She nodded her head surprised by the effect of the gentle tone of his voice had on her.

"I want to do things to you that would make you feel good," he smiled at her.

"Like what?" she found herself asking.

"Kiss you in the right places," he softly said as he placed a kiss behind her ear. "Send you dark memes," he grinned as he whispered into her ear. "How am I doing, Becs?" he then asked when she shook her head in amusement.

"You are doing great," she assured him smiling as she tilted her head so that she could kiss him.

"Awesome," he mumbled.

Beca was first to break the kiss when her phone rang. "It's dad," she informed him once she pulled her cell phone. "Probably calling to ask when I'm gonna get home," she said before she picked up.

Jesse nodded and pushed himself up after she sat Indian style.

"Yes, dad?" Beca said and ran her fingers through her hair.

 _"I was just on the phone with mom. She said you're coming over,"_ he told her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Why, would it be a problem?" she wondered.

 _"No, of course not, honey,"_ he assured her. _"It's just that we're at a friend's birthday party and will probably get home late,"_ he informed her.

Beca knew he was referring to himself and his girlfriend by _'we.'_

 _"So, just let yourself in, sweetheart, okay?"_

"Yeah, okay. I'll do that," she smiled feeling Jesse's fingers trailing up her arm.

 _"What's that noise, music? Are you at a party?"_

"I'm at a friend's house," she lied.

 _"Oh, okay. Well, have fun."_

"You too."

"Everything okay?" Jesse asked once she hung up the phone.

"Yeah," she nodded. "So, dark memes, huh?" She looked at the time on her phone before slipped it into her pocket. It was 8:50 pm.

He nodded as he grinned at her.

"You should sober up, Jesse." She ran her fingers through his hair. He would get shit from his parents if he went home drunk. "C'mon, let's get you some water," she sighed and hopped off the bed.

He reached for her hand and took it.

Jesse got a high five and fist pump from a couple boys they ran into walking out of the room to which Beca rolled her eyes.

* * *

 **AN:** I really hope this was fun to read and maybe relatable?

Leave a review if you feel like it. Thanks for dropping by. Stay awesome.

EDIT: I'm an idiot, let's start with that, I said these people are juniors in high school then made Beca say she's 17 because again I'm an idiot. I've just fixed. So, they're all juniors aged 16. Sixteen going on seventeen.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN:** Hello, people. This story has been on hold for the past two months mainly 'cause I have a hard time writing two separate stories at the same time. Now that I finished _Carried Away_ , this story will get regularly updated. I hope people are still reading this. Leave your thoughts in a review. Thanks for reading.

* * *

Jesse was at the mall shopping for new clothes with Benji and Donald. It felt like how shopping with a stereotypical girlfriend would be like—'cause the one time he went with his current girlfriend shopping she was done in half an hour and knew what she wanted to buy, unlike Donald.

Donald took shopping very seriously and always said he had a swagger to uphold.

"So, Bumper is throwing a party his parents' lake house in celebration of graduating high school," Donald said stepping out of the fitting room.

"Which college is going to?" Jesse asked.

"Barden. He thinks he'll shine in a cappella as a lead singer."

Jesse nodded. "You know, I'm considering applying for Barden University next year, maybe I'll join him."

"Barden is like an hour away by car, why would you want to go to college so close to home?" Donald asked.

"It's cheap and they have a cool Media Arts program," Jesse shared with him.

"You got it all figured out," Donald noted walking back into the fitting room.

"Yep." Jesse leaned against his seat and pulled his phone.

"Bumper invited me on Facebook to his party," Jesse spoke in a loud enough voice Donald could hear him.

"Same." He heard Donald say.

"What party?" Benji asked.

Jesse was about to answer him but didn't when he got a text from Beca.

Beca: **_'I've just parked.'_**

Jesse had texted her asking if she was free because he was bored out of his mind from shopping.

Jesse: ** _'I'm coming.'_**

"Hey, guy, I'm gonna get going. Becs is here," he told his friends before he walked away.

* * *

"Girl, are you a parking ticket? Because you have fine written all over you," Jesse said to Beca as he walked towards her car. "What, you don't like my pickup line?" he asked when her expression didn't change.

"You okay, Becs?" he asked noting that something was wrong climbing inside the car.

She ran her fingers through her hair and nodded. "Your pickup line is old and corny as fuck," she told him forcing a smile.

Jesse eyed her for a few seconds debating whether or not he should call her out on her bullshit because he could tell she wasn't fine.

"Wanna go grab a bite?" he was saying as she got out of the spot she parked in on the side of the street.

"Okay," she curtly answered.

* * *

"There's an outdoor movie tonight at the local park," Jesse said to stir up the conversation as they ate tacos after getting them at a drive-thru. "They're screening The Princess Bride, wanna go see it? It's really funny, Becs."

Beca nodded agreeing.

"Beca, you just agreed to see a movie without me having to beg you first are you sure everything is fine?" he asked keeping his tone light.

"Usually the movies you make me watch turn out to be fine," she shrugged. "If it's boring I'll just sleep through it."

Jesse reached over and wiped the corner of her mouth with his thumb.

"Thanks," she thanked him then grabbed her vibrating phone. She unlocked the screen to reply to the text she had gotten from her mother asking her if she was going to spend the weekend at her dad's.

She replied telling her that she'd be home by eleven and told her about her plans with Jesse.

"I ran into Scott at the mall," Jesse said as she read the text she got from her mother telling her to have fun and be careful.

"Who?" Beca looked up locking her phone.

"Scott, that dude that work with. I didn't remember where I saw him. He was the one that recognized me." Jesse paused to swallow. "Funny I never saw him around the shelter. Do you guys have different shifts?"

"Um, that would be because he doesn't work there," she hesitantly said.

"Okay?" Jesse slowly said and waited for elaboration.

"I have a gig at a radio station," she shared with him. "That I haven't told anyone about it," she added. "It will make my dad lose his shit thinking it'll make me slack at school."

"You're a really good student, though."

"I try to keep my grades up to avoid dad, to be honest."

"Explains how you're always sleepy," he mumbled. "So, Scott works at the radio station."

"Yeah, and he really doesn't like how Luke gives me more airtime than him. I try to avoid him. Next time you bump into him try not talk to him, please."

"If he's being an ass to you tell your boss," Jesse told her.

"It's not worth telling Luke. Just don't let him know anything about me. I don't want to mix my actual life with my job at the station."

"Okay," Jesse shrugged.

* * *

Jesse glanced at Beca to check if she was watching the movie and was pleased to see that she was.

He smiled and looked back at the movie.

Beca titled her head to look at him after feeling his gaze. The movie was fine. It was actually funny. But she had a lot on her mind and the movie couldn't distract her.

"You're missing the movie," Jesse glanced at her.

"Sorry," she apologized not sounding sorry as she continued to eye him. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel then smirked getting an idea.

She scooted near Jesse then leaned up and placed a kiss behind his ear deciding to mess with him.

They had been seeing each other for a while: They got to second base a couple of weeks ago and she wanted more because… well, because it felt good. She thought she'd give him a hand job so that he would do more than feeling her up—he thought it was what she was comfortable with and she didn't correct him.

"What are you doing?" he asked in surprise feeling Beca's hand go down to his belt.

"Watch the movie," she told him while unbuckling his belt and placing kisses on his neck.

"I need to know what you're gonna do," he cleared his throat.

"Give you a hand job," she sighed pulling away from his neck.

"Do you have, like, a hand cream?" he wondered. "'cause that's sort of important," he uneasily said.

"Why?" Beca frowned.

"I'm circumcised," he shared with her.

"Okay," Beca said not getting why hand cream was important.

"So, do you?" he asked.

Beca shook her head. "No, not right now."

"Then don't 'cause it will hurt," he told her.

"Oh." Beca tucked her hair behind her ear when it made sense to her. She thought for a few seconds then took off hairband that was around her wrist and pulled her hair up in a bun.

"Guess we're gonna skip steps," she told him letting out a nervous breath.

"Beca, you don't have to."

"I know," she nodded. "Please, tell me if I do it wrong, 'kay?"

Jesse rapidly nodded his head and watched her bend while unbuckling his belt.

* * *

"You alright there?" Beca asked looking around for the bottle of water she kept under her chair while Jesse buckled his belt.

"Never been better," he grinned and ran his fingers through his hair. "You're fucking awesome," he blew a breath watching Beca drink water then leaned over and placed a forceful kiss on her cheek then her neck, which was ticklish, making her pull away from him.

"I don't know what I did to deserve that," he told her.

"You never asked."

"I don't know how to ask for this sort of things without sounding like a horny asshole," he shrugged then kissed her grinning when she cupped his face and brought him closer. He pulled her onto his lap as they made out and broke the kiss when he needed to breathe.

He frowned when she went for his neck avoiding eye contact. Jesse rubbed her arms but couldn't enjoy what they were doing because he figured that she was using him as a distraction.

"Bec?" he called holding her shoulders and pulling her away from him. "Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded wiping her lips with the back of her hand.

" _Really?_ " he narrowed his eyes. "You can tell me, you know?" he told her when she sighed and looked out of the window to avoid eye contact.

"Dad is getting married and I really don't like the woman he's marrying," she told him as she stared out of the window. "How I feel about her doesn't matter, though," she shrugged.

"Of course it does," Jesse disagreed. "He's your father."

"He didn't even tell me they've been engaged. I went over today and overheard Sheila on the phone talking about some wedding planning shit." She clenched her jaw. "Dad doesn't even care to tell me. He keeps me out of his new life with Sheila then gives me crap for not involving him in my life," she ranted. "I want to call him out on it but I can't 'cause last time I did call him out on his shit he blamed mom."

"So you choose to pretend and act like everything is okay," Jesse thought out loud to which Beca nodded.

"You're not supposed to do that, Beca. Your mother doesn't need you to have her back. It's the other way around. She's the one who should be watching out for you," Jesse said.

Beca humorlessly chuckled in respond then tilted her head to look at the movie. Jesse sat up and kissed her jawline before he went for her lips when she tilted her head making her smile—he didn't know how to comfort her because he couldn't relate and had no idea what to say so he figured they'd get back to what they were doing.

* * *

Beca was lying in bed, listening to music on her iPod. She had dropped Jesse off to his place after the movie ended—read: after they fooled around throughout the movie— and went home.

She frowned when her phone vibrated. She grabbed it and arched an eyebrow finding a text from Jesse, who she was texting half an hour ago and hadn't heard back from after she had told him she couldn't fall asleep.

Jesse: _**'Unlock your window.'**_

Beca took off her headphones and climbed out of bed, making her way to the window. She was surprised to see Jesse at the bottom of the tree that near the house and that Chloe used to climb into her room on a regular basis.

"What are you doing here?" she whisper-yelled after unlocking the window.

"I brought The Princess's Bride to finish watching," he told her in a low voice then began climbing the tree. It was hard but he eventually pulled it off.

"Hi," he grinned once they were on eye-level.

"You know you're gonna be so fucked if mom wakes up," she told him as she helped him get inside the room and noticed that he was wearing sweatpants and an unzipped sweatshirt over his t-shirt.

"I can't fall asleep and neither can you. I thought it's only right if we finished watching the movie," he shrugged.

"What if I had fallen asleep and hadn't seen your text?" Beca wondered.

"I would have spammed you with texts until you replied," he casually said as he took off his back bag and unzipped.

"What about your parents? Aren't you afraid they'd be worried if they found out you're not in bed?"

"They think I'm spending the night at Donald's," he sighed. "Stop worrying, Becs." He grabbed his laptop along with the movie's Blu-Ray before walking towards her bed.

"Which side do you sleep on?" he asked.

"The middle," she answered.

He nodded and climbed on the right side of the bed making himself comfortable as he started his laptop.

Beca sighed and locked the door before she joined him on the bed.

Jesse threw an arm around her shoulder and placed a bag of Cheetos between them before he started the movie.

They talked through the movie; Jesse citing trivia every now and then and Beca commenting on different parts and characters and sometimes dialog. He knew she enjoyed the film because she didn't fall asleep. And he felt accomplished.

"Are you leaving?" Beca asked as the credit began to roll, looking up.

"I just came to make you finish the movie and or help you sleep," he told her.

"You can stay, Jesse," she said. "Just, like, leave early in the morning to avoid getting into trouble." She shrugged.

"Okay," Jesse nodded closing the lid of his laptop and pulling his phone from his pocket to set the alarm clock.

He put his laptop in his bag then put it aside before settling back on the bed where Beca had taken the left side giving him enough space to sleep on.—while watching the movie, they had gotten into a comfortable position where Beca rested her head against his shoulder while he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Are you gonna keep pretending?" Jesse asked after a beat.

"I can't exactly get on dad's bad side when he still has custody of me," she told him feeling weirdly comfortable to talk to Jesse about her family issues.

"So, you're postponing your rebellion until you turn eighteen?"

"I hope I never have to _'rebel'_ ," she said using air-quotation then closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Beca," Jesse said not knowing what else to say. "I really hate that you have to think about these things. And that they keep you up at night."

"I'm used to it. Don't worry about me." Beca shrugged it off. Jesse leaned over and placed a peck on her forehead. "Night, Becs," he said.

"Good night," she replied.

* * *

Jesse woke up before his alarm clock went off. He grabbed his phone and removed the alarm he had set to avoid waking Beca up. He climbed out of bed and stretched before walking into the en-suite bathroom that was in Beca's bedroom, slightly envying her for having a bathroom in her room. He peed and washed his face then exited the bathroom.

He was about to climb out of the window when he got the idea of leaving Beca a corny note. He walked to her desk and grabbed a sticky note and a pen. He stuck the note on the headboard of the bed then left the room through the window.

Beca woke up from the noises he unintentionally made getting out she rubbed the sleep from her eyes noticing the note he left then grabbed, chuckling when she read it. _'Roses are red. Violets are blue. You sleep like a dead person and so darn frightening and cute.'_

"Idiot," she mumbled tossing it on the nightstand and stretching then tried to get back to sleep.

* * *

She woke up a few hours later to a voice of a man inside the house. She frowned and climbed out of the bed.

Beca carefully walked down the stairs and she listened to the man who she assumed was having a conversation on the phone 'cause she could only hear him talking and who she recognized as Gerard, her mother's ex-boyfriend.

"What are you doing here?" Beca asked hitting the last step of the staircase.

He hung up on the phone and turned on his heels. "Good morning, Beca," he greeted as he poured himself a mug of coffee. "Mom and I decided to give it another shot." He shrugged.

"Where's mom, though?" she asked crossing her arms.

"She's using the bathroom," he told her as he eyed her up and down.

Beca didn't move and kept the neutral look on her face. She didn't like him in the slightest. She actually thought he was disgusting and had caught him checking her out a bunch of time. And every time she'd catch him he'd make a gross remark about how she's turning into a woman.

He never made a move on her, though. However, he did make her mother happy until he started to act like a jerk to her mom and they ended things after one spectacular fight that Beca didn't get to witness but heard about from Chloe.

"When did you get home last night?" he asked. "I didn't hear you."

Beca was walking to the kitchen as he spoke and decided to ignore him because she had parents and wasn't going to let him talk to her as if he were a parental figure.

She grabbed milk from the fridge and the cereal box from the counter and put them on the kitchen island.

"Mom didn't tell me you were back together," Beca said feeling his gaze on her as she poured cereal into a bowl.

"That would be because got back together last night," he answered.

Beca nodded and took a seat on a stool and glanced at the living room, connecting the dots—there were a couple empty wine bottles in the room: her mother very likely drunk dialed him and he showed up.

"You didn't answer. When did you get home last night?" Beca heard Gerard ask as she felt his gaze on her.

She tilted her head to look at him. "You were probably preoccupied to hear me," she smiled tightly at him and brought a spoonful of cereal to her mouth.


	10. Chapter 10

Beca wasn't a fan of Football but being the supportive girlfriend she was she was attending a game for Jesse's sake. Except she was sitting at the adversary's benches because it was her school against Jesse's school. She sat with Chloe and Fat Amy who were oddly fans of the sport and Stacie who had slept with most of their football team players.

The rivalry between the teams made the game fun to watch.

Beca had to admit Jesse was doing all right at preventing passes from the quarterback and she was actually rooting for him.

"We're losing: pretend to care," Chloe told Beca.

"Go, Falcons," Beca cheered apathetically making Chloe roll her eyes.

"I didn't know your boyfriend was on the football team," Amy said to Beca.

"I never saw him as a jock," Stacie quipped.

"Hey, don't fuck him with your eyes," Beca said to Stacie.

"I'm just checking him out," Stacie clarified. "So, did you give it up to him yet?" she casually asked. "You are at least giving the guy head, right?" Stacie worryingly said when she was met with silence.

"Can we not talk about this?" Beca wondered feeling weird about the direction of the conversation.

"Will you stop being such a prude?" Stacie rolled her eyes.

"I'm not a prude," Beca denied. "I'm just uncomfortable talking about these things."

"You are kind of a prude," Chloe sided with Stacie. "And it's fine." She rubbed Beca's back. "Now shut up and watch the game," she told the two and looked back at the game.

Not five minutes had gone by before Chloe leaned in and asked in a voice only Beca would hear, "Are Jesse and Todd friends?"

Todd's a boy that used to go to their school but changed, feeling humiliated, after Beca had punched him for the way he was bullying another boy—he was a classic clcihé of the asshole jock that you'd come across in movies.

"I don't know," Beca answered. "Jesse joined the team at the start this season then hurt his shoulder a couple of weeks later and they told him he couldn't play. He's filling in for the actual cornerback had pulled a muscle and couldn't play."

"Jesse's really good, though," Chloe remarked.

"He likes to think that he was a dog in a previous life."

"A dog?" Chloe frowned.

"Yeah. 'Cause dogs are into catching things you throw." Beca shrugged. "Jesse is weird," she added noting the look on Chloe's face.

"Well, does Jesse know that you're the reason Todd has a broken nose and that he holds a grudge against you?"

"No," Beca told her. "And dad paid the expenses of fixing Todd's nose so I won't get expelled from school," she reminded. "He doesn't _have_ a broken nose."

"You should tell him," Chloe advised.

"It's not important," Beca smiled waving when Jesse grinned at her.

"Hey, is it just me or does Jacob seem a little off in the game," Amy wondered when Jacob their team's quarterback pushed a player from the other team in the chest quite violently.

"Yeah, his head isn't in the game," Stacie agreed.

Beca and Chloe shared a look— they knew Jacob was secretly seeing Todd.—Chloe had already whispered into Beca's ear how she thought the boys seemed mad at each other based on how they were acting on the field to which Beca rolled her eyes and reminded her friend that it's football and shoving each other was part of the game.

It turned into an argument on the field between Jacob and Todd, who came to defend his teammate. Jesse had to be the one to go and play the peacekeeper and managed to break them off and finish what was left of the game.

* * *

"Jesse, you were great out there," Chloe complimented. "I hate that you won but you really were great."

"Thanks," he grinned at her. "Did Beca leave?" he asked. He was holding the helmet in one hand and a bottle of water in the other hand.

"No, she just got a phone call and went somewhere quiet to take it," Chloe informed him. "She should come back soon," she assured him.

"Cool. Thanks. I'm gonna go look for her," he told Chloe and proceeded to look around them then saw Beca making her way towards them. He decided to meet her halfway.

"We beat you," he announced as he walked.

"Good thing I left then," she grinned and he felt that it had something to do with the phone call she got. "Congrats," she congratulated throwing her arms around his shoulders and tip-toeing to kiss him.

"Okay, I know you're genuinely happy for me but I doubt that my school's victory is a good enough reason for Beca Mitchell to break her own rules thus publicly display affection," he smiled at her pulling away.

"There are no rules it's just that PDA annoys me," she told him. "But you are not far from the truth, Jesse," she admitted. "I applied for this summer internship at a record label in Atlanta and they called back to tell me that I got it," she grinned.

"Holy shit, Becs, this is awesome!" he exclaimed dropping both the helmet and bottle to pick her up and spin her around. "Why didn't you say anything about applying?" he wondered.

"I didn't want to get my hopes up. You'll be all cheerful and positive about it and I'll end up with really high hopes then I wouldn't get it and it would suck." She shrugged.

"God, this is so fucking exciting," he said and put her down.

"Calm down, it's just an internship," Beca said trying hard to get the grin off her face.

"Nope, it's not just an internship," he shook his head. "You try not to talk about it but I know you." He tapped her nose. "Making music makes you happy." He picked the stuff he dropped from the ground. "You gonna be in your element," he told her.

"Still gonna have to tell my parents about this. I mean Atlanta isn't that far but dad thinks the whole music thing is a waste of time." She sighed. "Mom is mostly okay with whatever I do as long as I stay out of trouble." She let out a nervous breath.

"Jesse, you coming or what?" one of Jesse's teammates called from a distance.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute," Jesse answered. "Tell me how it goes down with your dad, okay?" he said to Beca who nodded.

"Cool." He grinned. "I'm gonna get shit from the team for dating the enemy," he told her.

Beca rolled her eyes.

"Beca, the rivalry is very serious. We got a very modern Romeo and Juliet thing going on."

"Please stop talking."

"Okay, see ya." He leaned in and pecked her lips before he turned on his heels and joined his teammates.

Beca watched him as he walked and felt a gaze on her so she looked for the source and found Todd looking at her. She held his gaze and waited for him to look away but broke their gaze holding when Chloe threw an arm around her shoulder.

* * *

"Is it a paying internship?" Dr. Mitchell asked when Beca broke the news of her internship acceptance to him in his office at Barden University.

"No." She shook her head.

"So, you're going to waste money on gas for nothing," he concluded.

"It's not for nothing," Beca clenched her jaw. "Look, dad, I'm not asking you like give me more allowance. I can afford gas money for the daily trips. And it's in Atlanta which is a couple of hours away from here. So, I won't be putting a lot of money into gas."

"And what will you even be doing there?"

"I get that you think it's all dumb but I really want this. Besides, it's during summer break. You always tell me to find something to do and enjoy the break."

Beca had made a mental list of arguments to use before approaching her father and it was paying off because he nodded.

"Okay, you can do this if mom agrees, too," he said crossing his arms. "Just don't let this internship fill your head with nonsense."

Beca nodded knowing what he meant— nonsense was her hopes and dreams of getting into the music industry.

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry," she assured him with the most real looking fake smile she could fake. "I should head out," she said as she looked at the time on her watch.

"Why? You just got here," Dr. Mitchell frowned.

"Don't you have classes to teach?" she wondered.

"Well, yeah, but I think Sheila is done for the day. You guys could hang out."

"Yeah, how about no?" Beca smiled tightly.

"Beca, you're going to have to get to know Sheila better."

"I know. I'll get to know her better over dinner," Beca was saying as she began to walk backward towards the door.

* * *

Jesse was a lightweight when it came to liquor. He wasn't ready to acknowledge it but deep down he knew he couldn't hold his liquor.

 _Was he on his fourth beer?_

Jesse was feeling invincible which was why he was going to jump into a lake from the rooftop of Bumper's parents' house. "Here we go," he said while rubbing his hands together after he took off his clothes and stayed in his boxer short. He tilted his head hearing his phone ring so he bent and pulled it from his jeans' pocket.

After managing to pick up and not knowing who was calling because of his blurry vision, he cleared his throat.

"Hello," he said in his impression of a sober person.

 _"Hey, Jess,"_ Beca said from the other end. _"Still partying?"_ she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Are you coming?" he wondered in excitement.

 _"No. I just wanted to check up on you and remind you to drink water."_

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me," he slurred.

 _"Wait, are you drunk, already?"_ she said in surprise.

"Nope," he denied. "I'm not drunk at all."

 _"Well, what were you up to when I called?"_ she asked.

"Bumper dared me to jump in the water from the rooftop," he told her.

 _"Jess, you don't know how to swim,"_ she deadpanned.

"Well, I'm not gonna swim, Becs, I'm just gonna jump in the water," he shrugged.

 _"How do you plan on getting out after you jump, smartass?"_ she asked. _"Unless you're Jesus and you can walk on water you gonna have to swim."_

"Good point," he said after a beat.

 _"Get like a pair of water wings before you do it."_

He cradled his phone against the crook of his neck to wear his jeans and almost fell. "Hold on a second, Bec."

Beca sighed hearing him swear as he struggled to wear his pants.

"How's dinner going?" he slurred after he pulled his t-shirt over his head.

 _"Dad and Sheila told me they're engaged over dinner,"_ she said.

"When's the big day?" he asked as he took a seat on the rooftop.

 _"July the fifteenth,"_ she informed him.

"That's a couple of months away." Jesse paused to burp.

"Yo, Jesse, we're waiting," Bumper called loudly.

"I'm not gonna do it," Jesse answered in an equally loud voice making Beca go deaf for a second.

"Beca, you should come," he told Beca in a normal volume. "It's not a bad party and it'll definitely make the homicidal thoughts you have right now go away," he slurred.

" _I don't have homicidal thoughts,_ " Beca said.

"I might be exaggerating but I know I'm not far from the truth."

 _"The truth that is…"_ Beca trailed off.

"You wanna do something violent to your dad's fiancée," he confidently said. "I suggest you come to the party and do something fun with your pretty awesome boyfriend."

 _"Loud parties aren't exactly my scene."_

"The roof isn't loud. The area near the lake isn't loud— I mean it's spooky as fuck but it's quiet— um, there's always your car," he said as he swung his legs.

 _"I think I'm gonna pass, Jesse,"_ Beca apologetically said. _"Anyway, I should let you go now. Don't let Bumper talk you into anything and drink water."_

"Okay, mom," Jesse chuckled.

* * *

 **Exactly an hour later.**

Beca was in the living room with her father and his _fiancée_ —if it were to her she would have gone home the moment they finished having dinner but she was playing extra nice for the sake of the internship—The TV was on and she occasionally answered to her name and whatever question they had for her.

She grabbed her phone and frowned eyeing the text she got from Jesse. It was poorly typed and she didn't feel like decoding it so she called him. She left the room for some privacy and stood in the kitchen.

"What's up, Jess?" she said the moment he picked up.

 _"What's up with you?"_ he slurred.

"Jesse, you texted me," she told him.

 _"I did?"_

"Yeah. You okay?"

 _"Oh, yeah."_ He paused. _"I'm fucking awesome."_

"Jesse, what's going over there?" Beca asked hearing a not very far battle cry.

 _"Amateur wrestling,"_ he informed her casually.

"Wait, what?" she said in confusion and surprise. "Who's they?"

 _"The guys,"_ he replied in a tone that made it seem like she knew who they were. _"I thought I texted Benji. I guess I just saw the B at the start of your name and thought it was Benji,"_ he explained. _"Bye."_

Beca eyed her phone after he hung on her and was about to call him again.

"Beca, is everything okay?" Dr. Mitchell asked as he entered the room.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Um, it's just Jesse asking if I could give him a ride to his place," she lied.

"You're going to get him now?" he asked as he glanced at the time to find that it was nearing ten pm.

"Yep." She watched her father walk to the fridge and pull a beer.

"Will you come back here or will you go to Mom's place?" he wondered.

"Mom's," she curtly answered to which he nodded.

* * *

"Where's Jesse?" Beca asked spotting Donald who was filling a red solo cup with beer from a keg.

"Hey, wow, Beca, didn't know you're here," Donald said.

"Jesse did you see him?" she wondered rephrasing her question.

"He was outside last time I saw him, why?" he asked.

"He sounded very drunk over the phone and mentioned something about amateur wrestling then hung up the phone and wouldn't pick up when I tried calling him," she explained. "He's not with the morons outside, is he?" she asked referring to where the 'amateur wrestling' was happening.

"No, he actually laughed it and started imitating Michael Cole," he chuckled.

"Michael who?" Beca frowned.

"A wrestling commentator," Donald elaborated hold a cup her way. Beca shook her head so he brought it to his lips.

"Well, I'm gonna go look for Jesse. Text me if you see him," she sighed.

"I'll look for him around the house," Donald told her.

"I'll look outside then," Beca said and headed outside the house.

"Becaaw." Beca sighed a sigh of relief when she heard Jesse calling the moment she stepped on the porch. She tilted her head following his voice: he was making his way to her.

"You came," he grinned.

"I did," she nodded watching the unbalanced way he walked in. "You're so drunk," she remarked.

"I'm not drunk," he denied. Reaching her he leaned in and placed a peck on her forehead then straightened up for a few seconds before he turned away and puked in a gardening pot.

Beca grimaced, grossed out, but reached over and rubbed his back.

"Not drunk, huh?" she checked when he looked up after he was done puking. "C'mon, you gotta wash up." She wrapped his arm around her shoulder to support his weight and regretted it because he was heavy as fuck.

Donald helped her carry him to the bathroom on the second floor then left to get Jesse something to eat to soak up the alcohol.

* * *

"Do you feel like throwing up?" she asked seeing that he held onto the sink after washing up.

"No," Jesse answered.

Beca grabbed the towel and handed it to him then watched him take a seat on the toilet.

"You're so good at taking care of people, did you know that?" he slurred.

"I try to be useful," she shrugged.

"You don't let anyone take care of you, though," he noted.

"I don't need anyone to take care of me," she replied taking the towel from him.

"Everyone does, Becs," he told her. "Even you." He paused to burp. "I have a theory as to why you refuse to be taken care of."

"What's that?" she wondered sitting on the edge of the bathtub after placing the towel in its holder.

"You consider the need to have someone take care of you a weakness," he said confidently.

Beca was surprised by the accuracy of his words but decided not to make any comments.

"You don't only talk a lot when you're drunk you turn into a shrink, too," she sighed then looked at the door when Donald got in.

"I found chips," he told them. "There isn't any actual food."

"We'll make a stop at taco bell or something," Beca shrugged. "Donald, if you're leaving I could give you a ride," she offered.

"It's all right, I got a ride home, thanks." He handed Jesse the chips bag. "Gotta go now," he said in a hurry and left.

"We're leaving?" Jesse asked.

"Your curfew is eleven-thirty. If we leave now and go get you something to eat, you'll sober up by then," she reasoned with him.

"Okay," Jesse said then stood up. "Wow, the floor is moving," he chuckled. Beca took his hand in hers and guided him out of the bathroom.

"Hey, Bec, check this out. I know how to moonwalk," Jesse said letting go of Beca's hand once _The Way You Make Me Feel by Michael Jackson_ began playing.

Beca tilted her head to watch him and walked into Todd's chest.

"Sorry," she apologized and stepped to the side to let him through without even looking up to see who he was.

"Watch where you're going, bitch," he mumbled bumping shoulders with her forcefully.

"Hey, man, what was that for?" Jesse asked having witnessed what Todd had done.

"Jess, it's fine, let's get going," Beca said while rubbing her shoulder.

"No, it's not fine," he casually said as he stood in front of Todd.—another thing about drunk Jesse: he got a tad more confident.

"You were mad at the game for some reason: don't take it out on people," he shrugged. "Especially people who had done nothing to you."

"Beca didn't tell what she did to me?" he asked in surprise.

Jesse glanced at Beca.

"I punched him in the nose," Beca told him then. "Somehow it was strong enough it broke it."

"Wow." Jesse snickered.

"You find what she did funny?" Todd asked.

"I think it's astonishing that a five-foot-two girl managed to break the nose of a six-foot-tall boy," he told him.

Todd shook his head then threw a punch at Jesse which he dodged.

"Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?" Jesse asked. "Why are hulking out on me?" he wondered dodging another punch.

"Stop dodging and fight back," Todd yelled.

"No. I won't fight you." Jesse shook his head then grabbed Todd's arm and twisted it before he slammed him against the wall.

"Dr. Banner, you need to calm down," he said, referencing The Hulk.

"I know it's you," Todd said to Beca who was watching them in awe of her drunk boyfriend and his self-defense mechanism.

She frowned not understanding what he meant then tilted her head when she heard Jacob say, "Let go of him. I got it."

Jesse nodded and stepped back reaching for Beca's hand to hold. She squeezed his hand when he interlocked their fingers.

"When did you learn how to do that?" Beca asked as she and Jesse began to walk away.

"Dad taught me and Ryan that. He thinks that you don't have to use violence when you get attacked and I agree with him," he explained. "Tell me about what happened with Todd, Hilary Swank from Million dollar baby," he grinned pulling her to him.

"You know you don't have to reference a specific actress, right?" she looked up. "You could just say million dollar baby," she added to which he shrugged.

* * *

 **AN:** I'd like to hear your thoughts on this and where you think I'm gonna take it. Also, I'll clear things up in the next chapter. So bear with me, please.


	11. Chapter 11

Beca was sitting on a chair at the hospital and had long zoned out from the lecture she was receiving from her father.

"I thought you were over these stunts, Beca," he spoke in disappointment.

"I told you. It was unintentional. I didn't mean—"

"—the boy is missing teeth, Beca," he said in his low but furious voice, not carrying to hear her explanation.

Beca clenched her jaw and looked away. She saw her worried mother pace their way and braced herself.

"Oh my god, Beca." She was examining the stitches right above Beca's left eyebrow the moment she was in front of her.

Beca then witnessed a classic passive-aggressive interaction between her folks where they both tried to prove that they were the better parent.

"You're grounded," her mother announced.

"And you can kiss your car goodbye," her father added.

"What about the internship?" Beca sat up and began to panic. "I need the car to travel. I'll fix it. You don't have to pay the expenses of fixing the car."

"Oh, I wasn't going to," Dr. Mitchell assured her. "Hand over the keys."

"How am I going to travel to Atlanta then?" Beca asked reluctantly giving him the keys.

"You're not," her parents said in unison.

Beca wanted to throw a tantrum but knew it wouldn't change anything.

* * *

 _A few hours earlier._

 _Beca was making her way out of the house alongside Jesse. She was recounting what happened with Todd that resulted in the breaking of his nose when they heard a collective "Ow," from the party-goers._

 _She and Jesse were at the front door but could see that it was Todd and Jacob engaging in a fight that brought that reaction._

 _"_ _No, it's none of our business," Beca shook her head when Jesse tried to let go of her hand and go and break Todd and Jacob off._

 _She was pulling Jesse to walk with her._

 _"_ _Someone is gonna have to break the fight," he said. Beca sighed letting go of Jesse's hand. She saw him break their fight on the field and trusted him to break this fight without hurting himself._

 _Jacob was winning the fight and had landed a punch in Todd's guts causing him to fall. Jesse pushed Jacob away and was pinning him to the wall while asking him to cool down._

 _Beca saw Todd grab a vase as he got back on his feet and knew his intentions were definitely not good. She walked over to them and called, "Hey." catching Todd's attention._

 _"_ _Put that thing away," she told him._

 _"_ _Fuck off," he said to her while pushing her out of the way to get the drop of Jesse. Beca grabbed his arm in an attempt to slow him down. "Jesse, watch out," she said._

 _Jesse had his back to her, hearing her voice he tilted his head when Jacob happened to be weaseling himself from Jesse's hold and Todd was jerking Beca's hand away. As a result, Jesse bumped into Beca: Beca let go of Todd's forearm: Todd hit himself with the vase in the face._

 _Beca froze when she saw blood come out of Todd's mouth and nose as he dropped the vase in pain. The fighting stopped then. "C'mon, I'm driving you to the hospital," she told the boy that looked in so much pain and had a hand covering his mouth as he bled._

 _"_ _You, too," she said to Jacob who had a busted lip and swollen knuckles._

 _Soon enough, Beca, Todd, Jacob, and Jesse were in the car. And as she drove over the speed limits trying to get to the hospital as quickly as possible seeing how much pain Todd was in a raccoon crossed the road. Beca turned the steering wheel while also hitting the brakes to avoid hitting it which resulted in driving off the road and into a tree._

* * *

Beca crossed her arms across her chest and looked down at her feet, biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself from saying things she would later regret saying. Her parents were being unfair but she knew better than to lash out at them.

"I better go talk to the boy's parents now that you're here… make sure she doesn't 'accidentally' punch someone or break something." She heard her father say to her mom which got her to roll her eyes. "And what took you so long?" he went on to ask. "I called you twice."

"I was busy and didn't hear the phone. I came as soon as I heard your voicemail."

Beca glanced up at her parents and saw her Dad nod curtly before he left.

"Mom, I really didn't do anything to Todd," Beca said in her defense hoping her mom would be more understanding. "It was an accident and if he says otherwise there were plenty of people at the party that witnessed what happened."

"What about the pictures?"

"What pictures?" Beca frowned.

"He says you've been blackmailing him." Her mom ran a hand through her hair.

"Me blackmailing Todd? That is just absurd and ridiculous. Why would I do that? And why would you believe him?"

"Your dad mentioned it in his voicemail and didn't explain. He just said that the boy says you've made his life hell and that he had a nervous breakdown while they were treating him in the emergency room."

"I legit have no idea about this. I swear I have nothing to do with what's going on with Todd. And I don't know why he'd lump me into it… I mean he could still be holding a grudge over breaking his nose—" Beca stopped in her tracks taking in her mother's reaction. "You don't believe me," she figured. "Well, I didn't do anything to Todd. The vase thing was an accident. And, you and Dad should get some proof before you get on the 'Let's-blame-Beca.' Train."

"What do you think your dad went to do, huh?" She stepped closer to where her daughter sat. "Beca, we care about you. Your dad loves you."

Beca resisted rolling her eyes at her mother's words. "Sure," she said not caring that she sounded sarcastic.

"He does and you know it. Stop treating him like a stranger. And stop being so closed off and at least try to build a relationship with him."

"I'm not closed off."

"Okay fine not _closed off_ … but you are too guarded and secretive," she sighed. "You don't think I noticed how you avoid talking about yourself? Even when I ask you give short and vague answers."

"I don't like talking about myself, how is that a bad thing?" Beca defensively asked.

"C'mon, we're going home," she shook her head and gestured for Beca to get up.

Beca got up and followed her mother out of the hospital, discreetly pulling her phone when it chimed with a text.

 ** _Jesse 11:14 pm: 'How bad is it?'_**

(Jesse refused to leave when she told him to once they got to the hospital. He knew he and Beca didn't do anything wrong and knew that his parents would believe him because they were that kind of folks. He stuck around at the hospital until his parents showed him and left with them against his will after receiving a lecture for being drunk.)

 _ **Beca 11:14 pm: 'really bad.'**_

She shoved her phone in her pocket when her mom glanced at her.

"Fucks sake," Beca muttered when her mom extended her hand silently asking her to give her the phone.

"C'mon, honey, you know how grounding works." Beca rolled her eyes and handed her the phone. "Thank you."

Beca sighed seeing her mother's boyfriend at the parking lot eyeing her wrecked car that somehow didn't completely break down and got them to the hospital despite the damage.

"Did you drive into a tree?" he asked spotting them and directing his question to Beca.

"Yeah," Beca affirmed.

"Repairing it wouldn't be hard nor would be expensive," he informed straightening up.

"That's great news," the mother said glancing at her daughter who nodded meeting her gaze.

"I know a guy who would definitely make you a good deal if I talk to him," he offered as he made his way to where he parked while he unlocked his car.

"Thank you, Ger, but Ben wants Beca to take responsibility and deal with fixing the car and I agree with him." She climbed into the passenger seat.

Gerard nodded and started the car glancing at the rearview mirror to look at Beca who quietly sat in the backseat before he pulled out of the parking lot.

"You know you wouldn't have hurt your head if were wearing your seatbelt," he said breaking the silence.

Beca wanted to tell him to shut the fuck up and that she didn't need any more lectures. She met his gaze through the rearview mirror then looked away because she knew bickering with him would only upset her mother but it was so hard not to stand up for herself.

"I was busy freaking out over Todd's bloody mouth," she said in her defense and promised herself that she wouldn't say more.

* * *

Being grounded without knowing for how long began to annoy Beca a week in. She missed work in the radio station and was hoping Luke wouldn't fire her for going MIA. And the internship was supposed to start a couple of weeks into the summer break, she was beginning to lose hope that she was going intern at the label at all.

She didn't try to change her parents' minds despite the fact that the whole thing was an accident and she didn't mean for anything to happen—apart from the other thing that she really had nothing to with. She kind of guessed they'd cool off eventually and be reasonable so she decided to just wait for a while.

Not having a social life didn't bother her. She didn't have that many friends, to begin with, but she missed them, the nerd who she wanted to blame for what happened but couldn't because he was just trying to help when he went break the fight included.

She was laying in her bed: bored out of her fucking mind as she twirled a lock of her hair around her finger while staring at the ceiling of her bedroom when she heard a soft knock on the unlocked door followed by her mother's voice. "Lunch is ready," the older woman said.

Beca hopped off the bed and followed her mother downstairs in silence.

She severed herself a plate then sat down at the table, avoiding eye contact as she ate. She arched an eyebrow when her mom placed her phone near her.

"Curfew is at seven."

Beca didn't know what to say. She made peace with being grounded and expected the period to be longer than just a week. "Thanks." She grabbed her phone and pushed the button then waited for it to start.

"Dad and I decided that you'd fix the car yourself with Ger's help. We also decided that you'd help your father and Sheila renew the cabin." Beca didn't want to spend time with the man that her mother was dating because he crept her out nor did she want to be breathing the same air as Sheila but had a hunch in regard of what her parents were plotting with _the community service sentence_ they agreed upon. A hunch related to what her mother had brought up at the hospital… something about being too guarded and secretive and how alarming it was.

They meant well but her social skills were _fine_ and being too guarded wasn't a concern but she knew she had to play along because getting defensive wouldn't be the best move.

"When do I start?" Beca asked.

"Gerard is expecting you in a couple of hours," she informed. "As for the cabin renewal," she sighed pausing. "Call Dad, he'll tell you."

"Okay," Beca nodded.

* * *

Beca finished her meal and washed the dishes and was planning to head out of the house to go play mechanic with Gerard.

She left Jesse a text telling that the house arrest had been lifted and got a reply almost instantly.

 ** _Jesse 1:10 pm: 'FINALLY!'_**

 ** _Jesse 1:10 pm: 'Can I come over?'_**

 ** _Jesse 1:10 pm: 'Wait, when is your curfew? We should go out instead of me coming over.'_**

 ** _Beca 1:11 pm: 'I have to go see Mom's boyfriend. Apparently, he's "helping" me fix the car and if I skip I'm no longer eligible for parole.'_**

 ** _Beca 1:11 pm: 'Curfew is at 7.'_**

 ** _Jesse 1:12 pm: 'Are you still home?'_**

 ** _Beca 1:12 pm: 'Yeah.'_**

 ** _Jesse 1:13 pm: 'I'll be there in ten minutes.'_**

 ** _Beca 1:13 pm: 'Did I say you could come?'_**

 ** _Jesse 1:14 pm: '[insert sigh] I surely missed your hilarious sense of humor.'_**

 ** _Jesse 1:14 pm: 'Seriously, though, WAIT!'_**

Beca was grinning like a complete idiot as she eyed the screen of her phone. She forced the grin off her face when she felt her mother's gaze on her and shoved her phone in her back pocket before climbing the stairs.

* * *

Jesse text-messaged upon arrival and Beca got a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach that she decided to ignore it as she unlocked the door.

He was sweating and panting yet held a huge grin on his face.

"Did you run here?" she asked, pulling the door with her closing it.

"No," he told her, using the back of his hand to wipe the sweat that formed on his forehead while pointing at the bicycle. "I borrowed Ryan's bicycle."

He pulled her into a tight hug once she was within reach. "How have you been?" he asked, tilting his head to take a look at stitches she got that were hidden behind the hair that fell on her face.

She shrugged in response before she leaned up to place a peck on his lips.

"So, you're off to your mother's boyfriend, huh?" he asked unwrapping his arms from around her and walking to the sidewalk to pick up the bicycle.

"Yep, it's part of my sentence. And so is helping renew Dad's cabin with his fiancée."

"That could be fun," he said half-heartedly.

"Totally," Beca deadpanned.

"I'd love to come and help out if your parents would allow it."

"Thank you for offering, Jesse, but my parents are trying to prove a _stupid_ point."

He waited for her to elaborate more but when she didn't he said, "Well, whatever it is, I'm sure you'll prove them wrong because _nothing is gonna stop my girl!"_ he exclaimed.

"Oh my god," Beca said. "Go away." She shooed him before she paced away from him.

"Becs in effects y'all!" He grinned trailing behind her. "Hey, Bec, hop on, I'll drop you off."

"There isn't a rear seat, idiot," she told him.

"I'm aware of that," he rolled his eyes. "You could sit here," he said patting the top tube.

"That doesn't look very safe and I still haven't gotten the stitches off so I think I'm gonna pass," she grimaced.

"Bec, you weight nothing, I won't lose balance," he confidently said. "Just, like sit aside and pretend you're in an awfully uncomfortable Cinderella type of gown, side saddling, riding off into the sunset with your lover."

"Don't say lover," she told him.

"Fine—riding off into the sunset with your amorevolous knight in shining armor."

" _Amorevolous_?"

"Means loving."

"Okay, Shakespeare."

"Now, are you getting on the tube or what?" he asked. "I promise you'll get to your destination in one piece."

"You better not drop me, Swanson," she warned before she stepped closer to him and eventually hopped on the tube.

"Don't embarrass me," Beca deadpanned when Jesse began humming under his breath once they were moving.

 _"_ _A love struck Romeo, sings the streets a serenade._

 _Laying everybody low, with a love song that he made._

 _He finds the street light, steps out of the shade._

 _'n' says something like, 'You and me babe, how about it?'"_ he sang in a relatively low voice grinning when Beca tilted her head just enough she could glare at him.

 _"_ _Juliet says, 'Hey it's Romeo, you nearly gave me a heart attack'"_ he went on to sing quite obnoxiously because it's been a while since he got under her skin and needed his dose of pretending-to-be-annoyed-at-him-Beca.

* * *

"Was that your boyfriend?" Gerard was asking as he handed Beca a tool box to hold.

"Yeah," she curtly answered.

She was hoping the whole fixing the car bonding thing her parents set up for her wouldn't last long because she doubted she could survive Gerard's non-stop interrogation.

He eyed her up and down then said, "you're gonna stain your clothes."

"Do you suggest I take off my t-shirt and stay in a bra?" she dryly joked to which he snickered before he got inside the house leaving her alone in his garage.

Her car was parked outside on the sidewalk—she guessed her dad dropped it off.

He was back in the garage less than a minute later. "Here, wear this over your t-shirt," he said as he handed her of his old t-shirts. "Letting your hair down while you work on a car wouldn't be a wise choice," he went on to say, making his way out of the garage, and expecting her to follow him.

Beca placed the toolbox aside so she could pull the t-shirt over her head, making a knot to the side in an attempt to make it feel less like a bag and more like an actual t-shirt.

"Did you give her a name?" Gerard wondered as he eyed the car.

"Yep. And it's a he, not a she."

"What did you name him?" he titled his head to look at the teenager that was a foot shorter than him.

"Mitchell Senior," she answered. "Mitchell is my last name," she added in elaboration. "And Dad had had this guy since he was in college."

"Seems fitting," he nodded. "Your parents were very specific about wanting you to repair Mitchell Senior the old fashioned way."

"What way?" She arched an eyebrow.

"For example, we're gonna fix this hood instead of buying a new one."

"Didn't you just say that I'm supposed to do the work?"

"Well, I can't let you do all the work." He shrugged. "It'll take ages if I just sit and bark instructions at you." He cracked his knuckles. "Let's start by removing the hood, shall we?"

Beca nodded her head, pulled the elastic she had on her wrist to hold her hair up in a ponytail, and waited for him to tell her what to do.

* * *

 **AN:** I feel like a shitty parent neglecting their child when I look at the last time I updated this story. More to come _hopefully_ soon. As always, I wanna thank you for reading.

Song mentioned is Dire Straits' Romeo and Juliet.


	12. Chapter 12

"You can't reach, Jesse, give up." Beca sighed as she watched Jesse try to change the light bulb in the basement. "You gonna fall." She wasn't overreacting: He was definitely going to fall.

"No, I got it." He bit his bottom lip and tiptoed.

Beca paced to where he stood on a stool that he placed on a chair and held the stool, seeing that it was shaking.

"And voilà." Jesse looked down at his girlfriend after he successfully managed to change the light bulb without to use a ladder because he didn't want to wait until Dr. Mitchell was done with it.

"Are you expecting a medal?" she asked when he kept smugly smiling at her.

"A round of applause would suffice." He shrugged.

She shook the stool, freaking him out a little because he was simply too proud of his deed.

"Were you trying to kill me?" he asked in mock shock once he was standing on the floor next to her.

"No, I don't wanna spend the rest of my life in prison."

"Oh, so, you wouldn't kill me solely for that reason?" He faked offense.

She shrugged, keeping a stoic expression on her face.

"Hey, don't cry." She cracked a smile when he kept looking at her with a fake hurt expression.

"I'm reevaluating our relationship."

"Shut up," she snorted, cupping his face and leaning up. She slapped his arm when he wouldn't kiss her back. He couldn't resist for any longer despite wanting to milk playing hurt.

"You hurt my feelings, Mitchell," he mumbled, kissing her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"If you're expecting an apology, don't," she mumbled back before she deepened the kiss.

They had been spending a lot of time together, hanging out at her father's cabin. Jesse offered his help because Beca complained about how unfair it was to be a part of renewing the cabin so he figured he'd give her a hand.—he actually told Dr. Mitchell he was going to help and didn't wait for the older man to give him permission.

He showed up every morning at her doorstep on his brother bicycle, gave her a ride to the cabin by the lake, and worked pro bono.

She still complained an awful lot but he liked to think that she was having a little fun.

Beca pulled him closer, getting more turned on by the second. Jesse broke the kiss, laughing when he tripped and almost fell on her. "Sorry," he apologized. "Whoa," he exclaimed when she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to a dusty old sofa in the basement, removing the white sheet covering it and dropping it on the floor. She cupped his face and kissed him forcefully and was glad when he sat on the couch.

She could tell he was a little overwhelmed, well, very overwhelmed because, despite the fact that they had plenty of make-out sessions, she was _never_ very this forward.

He was reluctant because she'd never told him what she wanted.—she sucked at communication— so she figured that the best way to let him know that she wanted to go further than second base was to take it further than second base, which she had already done in her car when they went see an outdoor screening of a movie a while back—she knew she should just tell him what she wanted instead trying to show him, _again_.

He let out a nervous chuckle when she pulled away from the heated kiss they were sharing and climbed off his lap, getting on her knees and unzipping his shorts.

"You changed the light bulb," an impressed Sheila said as she walked down the stairs.

Jesse pulled Beca up with him as he stood up then gave his back to the staircase, zipping his shorts, relieved that Beca's future step-mother didn't catch them and also a little resentful of the woman.

"Jesse did." He heard Beca say after he heard her place the sheet back on the sofa.

He adjusted his erect penis and stuffed his hands in his pockets before turning on his heels to face the blonde woman.

"Good job," she smiled at him.

He smiled back at her, praying that they didn't look suspicious.

"Well, lunch is ready," she informed.

"Finally, I'm starving," Beca sighed and began following Sheila up the stairs.

* * *

"Dad, we're taking the boat for a ride around the lake," Beca announced, finding her father just outside of the cabin grilling meat.

"Have lunch first, Bec," Dr. Mitchell said, tilting his head to look at his only daughter before he looked back at the grill in front of him.

"I know." She walked to where he had set the griller and was making lunch for himself, his fiancée, daughter, a couple of dudes he hired to help renew the cabin, and her boyfriend.

She then made herself a burger and brought it her mouth, accepting the beer bottle, Jackson, one of the workers, discreetly handed her once her father shifted his attention back to the meat on the grill.

She mouthed her thanks and he tipped his baseball cap at her in response. She chugged the liquor to wash down the food and handed it back to the man who would probably get a lengthy lecture from her father if he saw what he did.

She liked Jackson. Jackson's the son of one her Dad's colleagues and was a senior at Barden University. She liked him because he treated her like a peer. Quinn, the other worker, wasn't bad either. Like Jackson, he was also a senior in BU. He also was a student of Dr. Mitchell.

"We're going for a ride around the lake?" Jesse asked. She didn't tell him beforehand. She nodded in response as she swallowed the food she had been chewing.

"You're gonna paddle, though, 'cause I don't wanna wake up with sore arms." She grabbed a chair and sat down by the table her father had set outside.

"I'd love nothing more than that. Gotta go get proper day-in-the-lake-supplies first." He scratched his chin thinking as he sat next to her.

"Don't suck the fun of this with your thorough preps, Jesse," she deadpanned.

"Spontaneous plans give me anxiety," he admitted, sorting out the ingredients for the perfect burger because unlike Beca he liked his burger to be authentic and not just some meat and lettuce. "And it's the lake so we have to be careful. We can't just go in."

"Well, you gotta get used to doing things impulsively," she advised, patting his shoulder. "I found a pair of water wings from when I was like five while you went to look for a stool earlier. Wear 'em for safety," she told him, taking a jab at his inability to swim.

"I doubt they'd fit unless you had the same muscle tone as an athletic teenager." He flexed and got an eye roll from Beca and a chuckle from Dr. Mitchell in response.

"Don't you mean as an average teenage boy," she told him.

"I am not average," he disagreed. "I'm _above_ average." He smiled hearing a small chuckle from his girlfriend.

* * *

Snacks were shoved in her back bag, a couple of beers included. Jackson double-checked for holes in the inflammable boat before she and Jesse went into the water on the boat.

"No, I'm good." Jesse shook his head as he paddled when Beca shook the bottle of sunscreen his way.

"No, you're not." She leaned forward. "You'll get sunburns and possibly skin cancer." She applied some sunscreen on his cheeks and nose then dropped the sunscreen bottle inside her back bag.

He stopped paddling and exercising his rotator cuff muscles. "How deep do you think the water is?" he asked looking into the lake.

"Deep enough you'd drown," she told him and pulled her t-shirt over her head.

"I have the life jacket, I won't drown." He glanced down at her breasts and couldn't resist staring.

Jokes aside, Beca didn't want him to die if by any chance he fell in the water so she had him wear a life jacket.

"I meant without the jacket." She untied her shoelaces and removed her converses.

"Are you gonna go in?" he questioned, meeting her gaze when she sat up.

"No, I'm wearing a bikini because I ran out of actual underwear," she replied sarcastically. "What are you doing?" she frowned when he removed the life jacket.

"I'm coming with you," he spoke casually.

"Dude, you can't swim," she stated, watching him remove his t-shirt. It was her turn to ogle because he was totally above average.

"I won't just sit tight while you rub how good of a swimmer you are in my face." He then emptied his pockets in her back bag and took off the shorts he was wearing staying his boxers.

"I expected star wars themed boxers," Beca said in disappointment, seeing that he was wearing a pair of flannel boxers. He rolled his eyes at her then reached and grabbed the sunscreen bottle, applying some on her back and shoulders.

"There you go." He patted her arm, tossing the bottle in her back bag. "No sunburns for you." He then wore back the life jacket.

* * *

"So, how come you can't swim?" Beca asked as she laid on her back in the water while Jesse anxiously floated next to her. "What happened?"

"Nothing dramatic like almost drowning." He was looking into the water afraid some jellyfish would sting him despite the fact that Beca assured him how unlikely it was explaining that jellyfish lived mainly in the sea. He argued that there was a small chance of their presence in the lake and that he wasn't overreacting.

"I just watched Jaws super young and refused to get in the sea ever since."

"What about pools? What's stopping you from swimming in them?"

"Chlorine sensitivity," he sighed. "We dodged a bullet earlier," he said changing the subject.

"Yeah," she chuckled. "I'm pretty sure I'd end up in therapy if Sheila caught me giving you a blowjob." She got under the water and he had a feeling she was bragging about how well she could swim and hold her breath when he saw how deep she went.

"And what was that about, huh? What worthy deed did I do to deserve a blowie?" he playfully asked when she came out of the water.

She shrugged in response.

"No, you're gonna have to give me more than that." He reached for her and held her hand when she swam towards him. "Beca," he called, watching her tilted her head looking away from him.

"Tell me so I can make a list of blowjob worthy deed," he joked.

"Is that a thing?" she asked, snapping her head to look at him.

"No, I just made it up," he replied. "I hope it's not a thing." He paused. "Bec, you took me by surprise earlier, and although I'm all for surprises I'd appreciate it if we talked about what sort of things we're comfortable doing." He smiled at her, deciding to take the first step because, who was he kidding, she'd never do that. He knew he'd have to force her into talking despite knowing it would make her uncomfortable which was something he avoided actively.

She nodded, sighing as she rubbed her nose.

"I'll start." He paused for the effect. "I'm for anything you're up for."

She rolled her eyes because he was basically telling her to start first. "I want more than what we've been doing," she uneasily said and looked down at the jacket he was wearing.

It pained him to see her uncomfortable so figured it was enough of an answer and nodded, meeting her gaze, then leaned in and placed a small peck on her forehead.

* * *

When Beca arrived at her mother's house later that day and didn't find her she texted her asking about her whereabouts. And, as she climbed the stairs, heading to the bathroom in her bedroom planning to shower, she received a text from her mother telling that she's with Gerard and told her she left her money for dinner, which usually meant she'd be spending the night over at Gerard's.

Beca shook her head reading the text because her mother sucked at being strict. She had an early curfew and her parents were still punishing her for driving her car into a tree—the other accusation had no backing so her parents decided not to believe Todd, thankfully.

She had been spending time with her mother's boyfriend Gerrard, working on the car. And also spending time with her father and his fiancée, working on renewing the cabin. Her parents were pleased with her which was great and all but they still didn't let go to intern at the label that accepted her. It actually hurt that they didn't see how amazing it was that she was accepted to intern at the said label.

It hurt that they didn't _care_.

She forced herself to kick these thoughts to the back of her mind because they frustrated her and got under the shower, replacing the former thoughts with memories from her day with Jesse in the lake.

Thinking of him brought a strange feeling in her stomach that she had yet to get used to. A feeling that increased once the thought of telling to come over since she was all alone crossed her mind.

* * *

Beca moaned as her equally inexperienced boyfriend went to town on her. She didn't know what to expect but what she was receiving felt good—she had to tell him a few times where to touch her but, for the most part, he was doing fine.

The sounds she was making were music to Jesse's ears. He was having way too much fun with the whole thing and had decided that giving oral was on his top ten list of things he loved to do.

He doubled his efforts when she told him she close and only stopped when she pushed him away.

"Oh my God, that felt so good," Beca breathlessly said as she rested her weight on her elbows to look at him then threw her head back.

Jesse climbed on top of her and pressed his lips against hers.

"You taste weird," she mumbled pulling away. "I guess I taste weird?" she added knowing she had tasted herself.

"You taste amazing," he gushed and got pulled into another kiss, one that got passionate very quickly once she wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him even closer and he hated what he had to do—Jesse couldn't bring himself to let them go all the way just because she was riding high on the orgasm that he greatly help her achieve.—He lazily smiled at her, pulling away.

"Were you asleep when I called?" she asked, caressing his messy hair.

"I woke from a nap to eat when you called," he answered then rolled to lay on his back.

She sat up and awkwardly wrapped her duvet around her lower half before she bent and grabbed her panties, suddenly feeling self-cautious.

"Your turn," she smirked climbing back on the bed after she wore her panties.

"No, this was about you." He sat up. "I had to return the favor."

"I don't like the whole _give to receive_ thing that seems to be an actual thing. We're dating, fulfilling each other's _needs_ shouldn't be a favor," she opinioned.

"Who knew that all you needed to become more communicative was oral?" he rhetorically asked as she climbed on his lap. "By definition oral means verbal so it makes complete sense that you needed oral to express yourself better through verbal communication," Jesse said in realization.

"You're such a weirdo." She leaned in and kissed him while feeling him through his t-shirt before she reached for his sweatpants waistband string.

* * *

Jesse ended up spending the night over after he called his parents and told them he was spending the night at Donald's place.—He didn't intend to sleep over but it didn't feel right to leave Beca alone and she didn't seem to mind him staying.

He woke up before she did and decided to wake her up the fun and very cliché way. It was a new territory for them and he was going to enjoy exploring.

"Mom is here," Beca breathlessly said, hearing car pull over in the driveway as Jesse went down on her.

Jesse momentary paused what was doing then resumed blowing her mind with his tongue simply because he was confident he'd get her off soon.

He did.

And, he was pretty pleased with himself and his achievement.

"Beca?" Beca heard her mother's voice calling.

"Yeah?" she answered, sitting up despite the haze she was feeling.

"When did you come home?" she asked, sounding closer.

"Get in the bathroom," Beca whispered, knowing how likely it was her mom would notice if he climbed out the window.

Jesse nodded and hurried into the bathroom closing the door behind him.

"Um, around four," Beca truthfully answered adjusting her bra as well as the tank top she was wearing then wore back her panties before her mother opened the door.

"I thought you'd spend the night at Dad's," the older woman said as she stood in the doorway of her daughter's bedroom.

Beca panicked when she saw Jesse's converse on the floor and hoped her mother wouldn't notice them.

"What were you doing just now?" she suspiciously asked, taking in her daughter's appearance.

"What do you mean?" Beca asked back. "What could I possibly be doing?"

"By the looks of it, I'd say you were masturbating," she casually said. "Were you about to you-know-what and I interrupted," she grimaced.

"Mom!" Beca called, feeling very embarrassed. She was flushed but not from masturbation and wasn't going to correct her mother, who was in a really good mood.

Jesse could hear their conversation very well and had to suppress a laugh at what he just heard.

"Honey, you have no reason to feel ashamed. It's very healthy."

Beca could hear the amusement in every word her mother spoke.

"While we're on the topic: How are things with your boyfriend?"

Beca's eyes widen at the implication of her mother's tone.

"I was a teenager once, too, you know?" She sighed. "You know what? You don't have to tell me. Just be safe, I don't want grandchildren while I'm still in my forties." She paused. "You are taking the right precautions, right?" she checked.

"We haven't had sex," Beca uneasily said.

While it was great that her parents were pretty liberal and understood how pointless it was to try and talk her out of becoming sexually active, sex wasn't a topic she wanted to discuss with either one of them.

"Huh. Well, tell me when you want to be put on the pill."

Beca rapidly nodded feeling the blush burning on her cheek.

"Guess, I should leave now so you could get back to what you were doing."

She watched her mom as she closed the door behind her then waited until she could hear her walking down the stairs before climbed out of bed and opened the door to the en-suite bathroom.

"Shut up," Beca glared at Jesse who had a huge grin on his face and was suppressing a laugh.

He snickered, grabbed his shoes and wore them.

"See you in a minute." He placed a kiss on her cheek before he climbed the window out of her room.

Beca sighed when she glanced at Chloe's room and saw Chloe resting her hands on the window as she grinned looking like she had witnessed the whole thing which Beca hoped wasn't the case.

"Morning," the redhead greeted.

"Oh, hey, Chloe," Jesse, who was on the tree between the two houses, said.

"Why are you sneaking out of my neighbors' house?" she asked. "Stole something?" she suggestively asked, referring to her friend's virginity, making Jesse chuckle because as clever as it was he couldn't steal something that didn't exist anymore. He laughed then descended the tree.

Chloe grinned meeting Beca's gaze. "Beca Mitchell, queen of keeping it low-key and never getting caught doing anything her parents would disapprove of, is risking getting caught doing something her parents would totes disapprove of." She dramatically sighed to which Beca rolled her eyes. "I couldn't be prouder."

"Come over?" Beca asked and was met with a nod.

* * *

Beca showered and got dressed properly for the day at the cabin doing whatever labor her father had for her before she went down. She could hear Jesse chatting with her mother and Chloe as she walked down the stairs.

"There she is," Jesse grinned once Beca walked into the kitchen.

"Morning," Beca said to all of them and walked to the fridge, pulling the milk jug.

"Gerard said to tell you that the car parts he purchased online arrived that he's expecting you to go over to his place around six pm." She heard her mother say and nodded.

"When will you finish repairing the car?" Chloe asked.

"Today, hopefully," Beca answered, placing the milk jug on the kitchen island. She then accepted the cereal box from her mother and did a double take noting the way the older woman held her head.

"You can take my car it's too hot to walk down to the cabin."

"Thanks…You okay?" she asked watching her hold onto the counter.

"Yeah," she answered and forced a smile. "Um, don't drive my car into a tree," she requested jokingly.

Beca rolled her eyes in response to her mother who was making her way out the kitchen in heavy steps. "Mom," she called, rushing to her side once she abruptly fell unconscious. She tried not to panic and did the rational thing by checking her pulse.

"Is she breathing?" Jesse asked as he got down on his knees then placed his index nearing the passed-out woman's nostrils to feel her breath and was relieved when he did feel it.

He tilted his head to look at Beca and frowned noting the stoic expression on her face. If it were his mother lying cold on the floor he'd have a different reaction.

Not to say that Beca wasn't freaking out— the way her hands were shaking was enough proof that she was. She just had a strong grip on herself.

"Do I call nine-one-one?" Chloe asked.

"No, I won't wait for them to send an ambulance." Beca shook her head. "She's got a pulse and is breathing." She then looked at Jesse. He knew what she was going to ask him to do and nodded before he picked her mother up bridal style.

Chloe grabbed the car keys from the kitchen island and raced to the front door, heading to the car parked in the driveway.

* * *

AN: Sorry for the delay. Thank you for your feedback it's really sweet. I listened to a bunch of indie songs made for teens for inspiration and this was the result. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think in a review.


	13. Chapter 13

Hospitals really sucked.

The thought of someone dying in some part of the hospital made Beca shiver. She exhaled loudly, looking at the screen of her phone, and felt Gerard's gaze on her so she got up and walked out of earshot before she answered the call.

 _"Where are you?"_ Dr. Mitchell wondered once his only child picked up the phone. "I called the landline, no one picked up, and your mother wouldn't pick up her cell phone either," he sounded worried and she felt kind of bad for not calling him.

Gerard was a part of her mother's life which made letting him know obvious. Her father wasn't so she didn't. He walked out on the two of them so she figured he had business knowing what went on with her mother.

"Mom fainted this morning. Took her to the hospital. They admitted her right away."

 _"What?"_ he exclaimed. _"Why didn't you call me?"_ he questioned.

"Why would I?" she countered.

She heard a sigh on the other end.

 _"Is she okay now?"_ he continued.

"She woke up on our way to the hospital." She didn't know how to actually answer him. "Right now she's getting a CT scan."

 _"Did you manage to fill out the medical forms?"_ She could hear a car door being shut. _"How are you handling things?"_

"I filled in the information I knew. She'll take care of the rest later. Jesse's mom helped out too."

 _"Have you called Gerard?"_ he wanted to know.

"Yeah, he's here. Chloe and Jesse are here, too. Jesse's mom works in another department but said to call her if we need her."

 _"Good. That's good."_ Dr. Mitchell asked a few more questions then told her to take of herself and hung up after letting her know that he'll be there shortly.

"Your dad?" Gerard guessed when Beca sat between Jesse and Chloe.

"Yep." She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the seat while Chloe leaned against her shoulder.

"He coming?" he then asked, tilting his head to look at her as he drummed his fingers on the cup of coffee he had been drinking.

"Said he'll be here in five," she repeated what her old man said.

Then there was silence. She appreciated the fact that Gerard wasn't trying to ' _be there for her._ ' Jesse and Chloe knew better than to verbally comfort her. They knew she wanted to be left alone to her thoughts and not hear them tell her how everything was going to be okay.

Beca didn't particularly like Gerard but she tolerated him more than Sheila despite the fact that Sheila never made weird and pretty creepy remarks about her growth into a woman. Having spent time with him working on the car she realized that saying all the wrong things were actually attempts at complimenting her.

He had moments where he'd buffer trying to come up with something nice to say to her which usually came out very wrong and he wouldn't even notice how perverted it sounded.

It was funny in the worst way possible.

His interrogations were the worse, though.

Gerard rubbed a hand against his thigh then stood up. "I'm going out for a cigarette call me if doc shows up while I'm outside," he held Beca's gaze as he spoke.

"Okay," she replied and watched him turn on his heels and start making his way towards the main entrance.

* * *

Beca knew something was up when the doctor ordered a CT scan after speaking to her mom privately. And she could tell from the way her father was trying to shoo her away by telling to go grab something to eat that he didn't want her to be there when the doctor gave the diagnosis as well as the prognosis.

Jesse and Chloe volunteered to go and buy burgers for lunch from McDonald's so she could stay despite her father's wishes.

She rolled her eyes when her mom asked to be alone with the doctor when he came back with the results but obliged and so did her father and Gerard.

Dr. Mitchell wasn't blind to how anxious his daughter was despite the decent poker face she maintained and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side and rubbing her arm as they waited outside while her mom spoke to the doctor and she appreciated it.

Gerard was walking back and forth across the hall, arms crossed, and was the first to get to the door when the doctor walked out of the room.

They listened carefully and didn't interrupt the doctor as he gave his diagnosis: her low blood pressure was the reason she fainted and that she's good to leave after 24 hours.

He also told them that CT scans came back clean.

Beca knew she should be relieved but it was really hard to believe the doctor. Her father seemed to believe him but Gerard was on the skeptic side, he interrogated the doctor who didn't mind the numerous questions.

"Beca?" She tilted her head, hearing her name and found Jake. Last time she had seen him was the night she drove her car into a tree with him, Jesse and Todd. She wanted to blame him and Todd because if they didn't fight Jesse wouldn't have tried to break their fight, Todd wouldn't have broken his nose, she wouldn't have driven her car into a damn tree, her car would be perfectly fine and she would have gotten to intern at the damn label.

She blinked, telling herself to not think about the internship, and stepped away from where her father, Gerard, and the doctor.

"Is everything okay?" Jacob asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah," she answered. "Mom fainted. Nothing serious." She took a good look at him, he had a brace on his knee.

"You okay?" she asked.

He nodded. "Hurt my knee running," he informed. "I wouldn't have come down here if mom didn't insist. I'll be fine… I never got to apologize for what happened."

"You weren't behind the wheel, I was," she replied.

"Well, I'm sorry _you_ drove your car into a tree. I'm also sorry for the shit Todd said both that night and afterward."

She never got Todd allegations but didn't look into them because she simply didn't give a flying fuck.

"He doesn't really like me," she stated.

She understood why Todd didn't like her, she broke his nose twice.—she didn't take responsibility for the second time his got broken, it wasn't her fault— She was sure it was the anger she felt that made her punch strong enough to break his nose the first time around. Todd was being a dick to some kid in school and she couldn't help but step in, it was verbal at first then one thing led to another and her fist landed on his nose. He ended up changing schools and she almost got expelled and had to see the student consoler for a while as well as spend some time in detention all for a kid she didn't even know.

After that incident, she decided to never try to be the heroine.

"He actually hates you and I made it worse," he apologetically said, making her frown. "It's stupid and I should have known better."

She crossed her arms and waited for him to continue after glancing at her mother's room and seeing that her father and Gerard had finished talking to the doctor and were inside the room.

"Someone has been messing with him, sending him pictures of us together… We were sort of together for a while." Beca nodded, she knew about their sort of relationships, she had seen them with Chloe. She made a mental note to ask Chloe if she's been messing with Todd even though she was confident Chloe wouldn't do something like that and not let her know.

"That someone isn't me," she told him.

"I know," he sighed. "I know you wouldn't do that." He scratched his head. "We were talking about people who knew we're gay and I mentioned you. He's convinced it's you." He paused. "The whole thing made him really aggressive. I broke things off."

She wanted to tell him he deserved better but didn't want to sound insensitive because she only knew Todd as a bully. Bullies still had feelings. And, Jake clearly had some for this bully.

"Has he been bothering you?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Good." He was relieved. "I should let you go now. It was nice running into you."

"You too," she smiled curtly at him then watched him limp away and headed to her mother's room, stopping when she saw Chloe and Jesse.

"Thanks," she said as she took the McDonalds' bag from Chloe while eyeing Jesse who was looking behind her and she knew at who he was looking but tilted her head anyway to look at Jake who was still limping.

"Is that Jacob?" Chloe asked.

"Yep," Beca answered, looking away from the boy and shifting her attention to the burger she was having for lunch. "He hurt his knee," she informed.

"You talked to him?" Jesse asked. She looked up and met his gaze, nodding. She kept her expression neutral despite the confusion that the tensed look on Jesse's face brought.

Jake was cool, she didn't get why Jesse would react the way he did.

"The doctor was just here, he says mom is fine," she told the two. Their reactions were the same as her father's: relieved.

* * *

Beca eventually let go of the uneasy feeling she had over her mother's health seeing that things went back to normal. The punishment for the car accident was over, she had her car back, and most importantly her mother was doing okay health-wise.

She was beginning to enjoy summer break, finally, despite feeling bewailed whenever the internship opportunity she missed crossed her mind. Losing the radio station gig didn't bother her as much as the internship.

"Did you get it?" Chloe asked.

"Yep, but it's all blurry" Beca lied, she was busy thinking and didn't see her best friend and her boyfriend coming towards her on the skateboard. "Start over, I forgot to put it in Burst Mode," she told her friend.

"Why are you taking the pictures instead of being in them?" Fat Amy asked upon arrival.

"I don't want to get injured," Beca replied from her spot on the hood of her car. She was pretty sure Jesse was going to fall and Chloe was going to break a bone once he did because who the fuck sat on the shoulders of a person while that person skated.

"This looks like the type of cute things couples do," Stacie went on to say and opened the trunk of the car to put the junk food she and Amy just bought for the night in it.

"This looks like the type of shit that would guarantee you a visit to the emergency room," Beca countered and got ready to snap pictures once Jesse skated in the somewhat empty parking lot.

"Got 'em," she announced as she checked the pictures that she took.

"Awes," Chloe beamed, trusting Jesse with her a little too much in Beca's opinion.

Jesse slowly helped Chloe off his shoulders then skated where Beca's car was parked.

Chloe hopped on the hood next to Beca. "Let me see," she was saying as she took the phone from Beca.

Beca slid down the hood and was pulling up her jeans that seriously weren't meant to be worn on a hot summer day, she should have just shaved.

"See you later?" she meant it as a statement but it came out as a question, watching Jesse pick up the bag containing the cat food he bought for his cat.

He should have been home a while ago but he ran into the girls right outside of the grocery store and stuck around when Chloe asked if he could lend her his skateboard and somehow ended up skating while Chloe sat on his shoulders because the redhead wanted to take a picture doing that and he was a people pleaser and it wouldn't kill his cat to wait.

"Yeah," he replied and leaned in for a kiss. He knew odds were that she tilt her head so his lips would land on her cheek but went for her lips anyway.

' _This is a first,'_ he thought when she not only let him kiss her in front of her friends but kissed him back even if it was for a second.

It was huge for her to publically display any kind of affection especially in front of people they knew, he felt like throwing his fist in the air.

He didn't, though.

She acted like it's no big deal so he rolled with it. Resisting the urge to do something that would definitely count as embarrassing in Beca's books was hard.

"Can I get my baseball cap back?" he asked Chloe. She didn't look up from the phone when she extended her hand holding his baseball cap that she took from him and wore once she was on his shoulders. Beca took it from her and put it on Jesse's head, lightly slapping him after she adjusted the hat because he was grinning too hard.

"Bye," he said before he left.

" _He was a boy. She was a girl. Can I make it any more obvious?_ " Fat Amy sang teasingly, resting her elbow on Beca's shoulder who immediately shrugged it off.

" _He was a punk. She did ballet. What more can I say?"_ she continued singing as Beca got in the driver's seat. "Wait, that's not accurate," Amy said to herself.

"How about…" Chloe trailed off, looking up from Beca's phone that she had been focused on the entire time. " _He was a nerd... She did Broadway_." She shrugged. "It's hard to rhyme anything with Ballet," she added at the odd looks she got. "And, Beca has the voice to be Broadway." She hopped off the hood.

"Chloe, no offense but writing songs isn't for you," Amy told the redhead before she climbed inside the car.

"Oh, I got an accurate one," Stacie announced as she fastened her seatbelt. " _He was a nerd. She wasn't gay_."

"Someone hand Stacie a Grammy," Beca snorted.

"It actually works with the next lines, Beca," Amy argued in favor of the lyrical changes.

" _He wanted her. She'd never tell. Secretly she wanted him as well_ ," Stacie sang. "Except it's no secret you want him too so we're changing it to ' _Openly she liked him as well'_."

Beca rolled her eyes and started the car, knowing better than to engage further because it was one thing to hear them sing and a whole other thing to have them break down the lyrics and make changes for accuracy, she could only tolerate so much.

"So, what are you wearing for your date this evening?" Chloe asked as Beca got out of the parking lot.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing right now?" Beca replied with a question.

"It's like one hundred degrees and you're wearing jeans," Chloe told her.

They were going karting, jeans were fine for the occasion but it was really hot. "I'll change into shorts."

"What kind of shorts?" the redhead asked.

"Denim." Beca shrugged. She only owned denim shorts anyway.

"How about you wear a skirt," Stacie suggested.

"We're going karting why would I wear a skirt?" Beca questioned, looking at Stacie through the rearview mirror.

"For easy access," Stacie casually answered. "Oh, C'mon, Beca, stop acting like you're the fucking virgin Mary," Stacie rolled her eyes when Beca glared at her before focusing on the road and deciding to ignore her friend. "Chloe says Jesse sneaks into your bedroom every other night and only comes out of there in the morning. What do you spend the night doing, playing The Settlers of Catan or something equally nerdy?"

"They watch movies probably," Amy quipped.

"I didn't know I had a watch tower next door," Beca deadpanned, glancing at Chloe through the rearview mirror then sighing when Chloe grimaced mouthing 'sorry'.

"Spill the beans, how far have you gone so far?" Stacie wanted to know.

Stacie's like a human sex-encyclopedia, she could give actual advice if Beca went to her but it was so weird to share this kind of thing even with her closest friends.

"We haven't gone all the way," she let the passengers of her car know and hoped she'd be left alone.

"What are you waiting for to go all the way?" Stacie asked.

Beca shrugged. There wasn't _a reason_. She knew it was a step they'd eventually take but she was happy with the current level of intimacy between them. And, with the amount of fooling around they had been doing she knew it wouldn't be long until they covered all of the bases.

She had had intercourse only once before and regretted doing it when a guy she barely knew: she didn't think too hard about it when she made the decision but later realized that she had made a mistake and that the mistake was forever etched in her memory.

"Well, I'm here if the internet doesn't provide the answers to your sex-related question that your parents wouldn't answer," Stacie offered. "We all are but we all know who the sexpert is." She proceeded to point at herself.

"Thanks, Stace," Beca said, meeting her friend's gaze for half a second.

She dropped the girls off at Stacie's place and promised she wouldn't miss the sleepover then headed home to shave her legs and wear shorts before going to pick Jesse up for their date.

* * *

"Hey," Jesse exclaimed when Beca reached over and grabbed a handful of fries from his plate.

"Shut up, I won," she mumbled, bringing the fries to her mouth after she dipped them in ketchup.

"How does winning a race make it okay for you to steal my food?" he questioned.

"It just does, meal with it," she told him.

He laughed at the awful pun and took a bite from his burger.

She figured the whole karting thing far sooner than he did and he accused her of having done it before while he was new at it. He knew it was her first time racing in karts as well but it didn't mean he wasn't going to complain.

"There's ketchup on your cheek," he said as he leaned forward to wipe it.

"Thanks," she mumbled, pulling her phone once it chimed with a text.

 **The number was unknown and the text read:** 'Hey, Beca, it's Scott, I got your number from Luke. There's a gig, interested?'

She frowned, unlocking her phone to reply to the text message she received from Scott of all people. They worked different shifts at the radio station and barely knew each other. She knew he didn't particularly like her because Luke gave her more airtime than him despite the fact that he worked longer than she did at the place.

 **Beca:** 'What kind of gig?'

His reply was instant.

 **Scott:** 'Birthday on Friday from 7 pm to 12 am, 300 bucks.'

300 bucks for a 5 hours long gig, interesting.

"What's up?" She heard Jesse ask and looked up from her phone to find him watching her with slight worry in his eyes.

"Remember Scott? Radio Station Scott. You met him at that frat party once."

He nodded. "Yeah, I remember him."

"He got my cell number from Luke and text me about a birthday gig this Friday from seven to midnight," she informed.

"You're gonna do it?" he asked after he swallowed what he had been chewing.

"I don't know," she honestly told him as eyed her phone. "I've never DJ'd anywhere really, I just played mashups at a radio station for a few months."

"Well, I think you should," he said.

She thought about it for a minute, she could use the money but it was weird that Scott would approach her.

"Isn't weird that Scott would text me of all people? We're not exactly friends."

"Ask for more details and if it's fishy don't do it." He shrugged.

"Would you like to go with me if it's legit?" she asked moments later.

"I'd love to," he replied immediately.

"Cool," she smiled, having him around would make being surrounded with strangers easier.

She asked for more details and it seemed legitimate.

"Scott moved to L.A. to become a record producer," she informed, bringing her diet coke to her lips. "His friend whose sister is turning sixteen is throwing a birthday asked him if he knew anyone around here that wouldn't charge them much." She felt a little envious that he was following HER DREAM but kept her feelings to herself.

"That's cool," Jesse said before he devoured what was left of his burger. "So, are you gonna do it?" he wanted to know.

"Yeah," she nodded, placing her phone on the table.

* * *

She was supposed to head straight to Stacie's house after dropping Jesse off but when he asked her if she'd come in because he wanted to show her something she obliged.

"Where's everyone?" She stuffed her hands in her back pockets as she followed Jesse further inside the house and towards the stairs.

"My parents went to a barbeque their friends are hosting," he told her. "And Ryan is probably at a friend's house."

"And you skipped on the barbeque because of me or weren't invited?" she wondered.

"Neither." He stepped inside his bedroom. "Remember the girl I told you I almost had sex with but didn't because I lost my boner in the most embarrassing way?"

He heard a noise in the basement where they were and lost his boner, she remembered. "Yeah," she answered.

"Well, her parents are the hosts," he continued. "I was going through Dad's old stuff and found these." He gestured at the box on his desk. She peeked and saw loads of cassettes.

"There's a lot of the nineties and eighties music on them and I was planning on converting them to mp3 and putting the songs on a flash drive for you but I figured you could pick some to use for new mashups for the gig," he explained. "I found an article on Wikihow as for the actual digitizing, seems easy." He shrugged and watched her look through the cassettes.

"Your dad has a great taste," she mumbled, reading the labels of some cassettes and recognizing the artists, there was a lot of hip-hop.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"This is really awesome." She looked up. "Thanks." She leaned up and kissed him.

"Do you have to go now or do you wanna listen to some of them?" he asked when she pulled away.

"Yeah, let's do that," she nodded and shifted her attention to the cassette deck that was also on the desk. "You're gonna have to get over what happened with that girl, it's not the worst thing that could have happened to you," she was saying as she flipped a cassette in her hand.

"I know and I'm over it." He shrugged. "It's just that she acts weird when we run into each other. Why would I go to her house?"

"How long ago was it?" she asked, put the Blackstreet cassette she had been looking at in the player and hit rewind.

"Like a year," he answered.

"A whole year and she still acts weird about it?"

He nodded then smiled hearing Beca rap along to Dr. Dre under her breath. She stopped when she noticed that he was looking at her.

"Keep going," he told her.

She rolled her eyes and didn't so he tried to rap despite not knowing the words.

"Shut up, you're ruining it." She lightly slapped his chest.

" _I like the way you work it. No diggity, I got to bag it up,"_ he sang along to the chorus correctly only because the singer repeated it.

He would have tried to butcher the second verse but Beca made sure he didn't and he had no complaints with the method she chose to keep him quiet. He was in fact very okay with it if she decided to only use kissing him as a way of keeping him quiet even if it meant he couldn't drop fun facts as they watched a movie.

Jesse grinned like the idiot he was when she pulled away and saw a look that made him feel wanted which was the case because she did want him. He picked her up and laid her on his bed.

"When will your family be home?" she asked as he hovered on top of her.

"I don't know," he answered. "Wait." He pulled his cellphone and dialed his mother's number, resting his weight on his elbow as he laid on top of Beca.

"Hey, mom," he said as soon as she picked up. "What's for dinner?" he wanted to know.

" _What you had for lunch,"_ she answered.

"Oh, okay." He paused.

" _Fix yourself a snack if you and your brother somehow manage to finish lunch leftovers."_

"You're gonna stay at the Harvey's for long?" he wanted to know.

" _Why? I swear to God Jesse if you plan to throw a crazy party I will make sure you stay grounded until next year."_

"Relax, mom, I'm not planning to do anything crazy at home," he said in amusement. "I was just asking to know if you could make a stop at the grocery store on your way home 'cause we're running low on popcorn."

" _We won't be home until like nine,"_ she answered.

"I'll go myself then," he figured. "Have fun you and Dad, bye."

" _Bye,"_ she answered before he hung up.

"They won't be home until nine," he told Beca. "As for Ryan, I'll just lock the door up so he can't barge in," he added, feeling her rub her thumb against his cheek. "What?" he asked, noting how thoughtful she seemed.

"I'm thinking about what's stopping us from going all the way," she bluntly said, taking him a little by surprise.

He usually had to push her before she told him what was on her mind.

"Do you want to go all the way?" he wanted to know.

She nodded. "Do you?"

"Right now?"

She nodded again.

He thought they'd do the deed on a special occasion like a birthday or an anniversary. "Well, hell sure," he answered as he thought about protection. "Dad gave me a box of condoms so we got that out of the way."

"Your dad seriously did that?"

"Yeah, he patted my shoulder and told me to be careful. I guess he assumed we were having sex when he caught us making out." They pretended to be watching the movie they had playing in the background when he walked in on them during a make-out session.

Jesse climbed out of bed and pulled the box of condoms from a drawer in his dresser.

"Should I go buy lube?" he wondered.

"We can manage without that," she told him and rolled her eyes at the grin that made its way to his face. "Lock the door and come here," she added before he could make an unfunny joke about how he affected her physically or worse reference a movie and consequently make her drier than the freaking Sahara.

* * *

"Look who decided to show up," Chloe said once Beca stepped into the room.

"We thought you were going to bail," Stacie was next to say. "Which is okay I guess because I'd definitely pick dick over chicks when given the choice," she continued.

Beca didn't acknowledge Stacie because her friend was right, she ran late because she was busy having sex with her boyfriend.

"I made a stop at taco bell and got your favorites," Beca announced as she placed the bag of tacos on the bed.

Amy grabbed the bag before Chloe and Stacie could.

"What important matters did I miss?" Beca asked as she took off her shoes after shrugging off her back bag that contained the clothes she was going to wear to bed as well as her toothbrush.

"Stacie was telling us about her hot new neighbor who she thinks is a serial killer," Amy informed.

"So," Chloe said, "how was your date?" she asked before Beca could say anything about the serial killer neighbor thing Amy brought up.

"Pretty fun." Beca shrugged.

" _Tell me more, tell me more,"_ Chloe sang, earning an eye roll from Beca because: _'Grease, really?'_

Also, screw Jesse because she wouldn't even have recognized the song if he didn't make her sit through the damn movie. Oh, wait, she just did.

Her thoughts brought a smile to her face that none of her friends missed.

" _Did you go very far?"_ Chloe continued to sing, arching an eyebrow at Beca.

"I'm gonna go change," Beca said to no one in particular and grabbed her back bag heading out of the room to go to the bathroom.

"You did, didn't you?" Stacie endearingly said, blocking her way and eyeing her carefully.

"Yep," Beca nodded. "Can you let me through, now?"

"No," Chloe answered, getting up from her place. "Tell us everything, now."

"It's no big deal."

"You're not getting off the hook until you give us the deeds, Beca," Chloe told her.

Beca sighed, scratching her head. "We went back to his place because he wanted to show me some cassettes he found that belonged to his dad and one thing led to another and we decided we'd just do it," she managed to get out the words despite a great deal of discomfort she felt.

"And?" Chloe looked at her expectantly.

"What?" Beca frowned.

"How was it?" she asked.

Beca just shrugged at the question.

"Alright, give her some room she can't tell you anything if she can't breathe," Fat Amy mumbled as she ate.

Stacie and Chloe knew what Fat Amy meant, Beca was very likely to completely shut down if they pressured her.

"Amy got your back, B," Fat Amy assured then gestured for Beca to head out as if she were granting her permission to leave the room once Stacie and Chloe let her through. Beca shot Fat Amy a thankful look before she reached for the doorknob.

She was grateful her friends backed off because she really didn't want to blurt out the fact that after they finished and were cuddling Jesse told her he loved her and she replied saying, 'love is a strong word.'

* * *

AN: Songs mentioned: Sk8er Boi by Avril Lavigne, No Diggity by Blackstreet and Summer Nights from Grease.

Let me know what you think of this chapter in a review, that'd be dope.


	14. Chapter 14

AN: Two updates in a week, I'm surprised, too. I'll try not to jinx it and keep this shit up and like finish this story before the year ends.

* * *

Jesse was sure he screwed everything up with Beca because he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

' _Idiot,'_ he called himself as he thought back the events from the day before.

He was pretty pleased with himself and credited how well thing went to the amount of fooling around they had been doing as well as the fact that he was with Beca. He didn't get to worry about underperforming and embarrassing himself simply because he was enjoying himself a lot, they both were.

His heart sank when he saw the blank look on her face once he impulsively vomited the three words that he truly meant as they cuddled. He always knew he liked Beca but after the intimacy that they shared he knew he loved her.

She didn't run for the hills but she took an awful lot of time before she said anything back, clearly thinking things through unlike him.

" _Love is a strong word,"_ she said.

" _Well, duh, captain obvious_ ," he attempted to nervously joke which made her roll her eyes at him and kiss him before she got up. He watched her get dressed while he worked on what he was going to say. She interrupted his train of thoughts with a quick peck on the lips after she told she'd talk to him later.

He grabbed his phone after making himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, planning to text Beca and failing to come up with a decent text: how was he supposed to fix things?

He set his phone aside, groaning in frustration.

"What's wrong?" He heard his mother ask, sounding tired after a long night shift at the hospital.

"Everything," he answered.

"Fought with Beca?" she guessed, opening the fridge to pull a bottle of water.

"No," he shook his head.

"What is it then?" she asked in concern before taking a sip of water.

"I did something and I'm pretty sure she's going to break up with me for it."

"Did you cheat on your girlfriend?" she worried.

"No, of course not," he quickly said and looked away from her gaze.

"Mom?" he called as he watched her put the bottle back in the fridge.

She hummed in response. "What would you do if you told someone you love them and they responded by love is a strong word?" he asked, taking a bite from his sandwich.

"I'd agree with them," she said and leaned against the counter, grabbing the peanut butter jar and taking a scoop of peanut. "If it were me, I'd continue to love them and not expect them to love me back." She paused to swallow the peanut butter. "Eventually they'll reciprocate my feelings... and if they don't it just means we're not meant to be."

"What if they just stay with you out of pity?" he asked.

"If it comes down to that I'd break things off because it's for the best," she answered.

"Even if it hurts?"

"Even if it hurts," she nodded. "Honey, maybe she's just not ready to say it back. Some people fall in love faster than others," she told him, noting his devastation. "You just let her know she shouldn't feel pressured to say it back just because you have." She rubbed his arm.

"Okay," he nodded. "I'll do that."

"Aw, my baby is in love," she coed then hugged him tightly.

He hugged her back all the while rolling his eyes. She pulled away and held his shoulders. "Are you going out for a run?" she asked, noting that he was wearing basketball shorts, a Nike t-shirt and a pair of sneakers.

"No, I'm meeting the guys for a basketball game."

"Be careful and remember to stay hydrated." He nodded in response. "Let me know how things work out with Beca." She squeezed his cheeks together when he nodded again then pulled him down and placed a kiss on his forehead.

* * *

"Stop that," Chloe slapped Beca's hand away so she'd stop biting her fingernails.

Beca clenched her fist to keep herself from biting her nails and tilted her head to look at Chloe feeling her gaze.

"Everything okay?" Chloe asked.

"Uh huh," Beca nodded, putting her phone aside after intensely staring it for the past 10 minutes waiting for Jesse to reply to any of her text messages. He was ignoring her and she was worried she screwed things up with him when she took off right after he told her how he felt.

"Just trying to figure out what kind of music I should play at the birthday party," she told her friend. "What if they don't like my picks?"

She told the girls about the DJing gig she got the night before so they could finally move on from the hot topic for the night, her sex life.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Chloe shrugged. "You have a really broad taste in music I'm sure there's something for everyone."

It was true what Chloe said about her taste in music, she liked different genres, she'd pretty much listen to anything and manage to make a decent mashup of songs from different genres.

"Working on anything new?" She peeked her head to look at Beca's laptop that was on her lap.

"No," she shook her head. She planned to do that but her mind was preoccupied. "I'm making a playlist from the stuff I've already made," she sighed. "I need five hours music. Approximately ninety songs that wouldn't put people to sleep."

"Beca." Beca looked up from her seat on the couch hearing her mother's voice as she came out of her office.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Your father is getting married in a couple of weeks, what are you planning to wear to the rehearsal dinner and wedding? Not plaids and shorts, I hope."

"I don't even wanna go," she muttered.

"Beca," the older woman called softly from the kitchen while she made herself a mug of tea.

"I'll borrow something from Chloe."

"How about you go and buy a couple of new dresses and heels?" the mother suggested as she walked towards the living room. "Chloe can go with you, right Chloe?" She tilted her head to look at the redhead.

"Yeah," Chloe nodded. "It'll be fun."

"No heels," Beca grumbled, giving in.

"No heels." She saw her mother shrug. "Thank you." She patted her cheek and turned on her heels, heading back to her office.

"Your mom is writing again?" Chloe asked after the woman disappeared into her office.

"Yeah," Beca nodded. Her mother hadn't written anything in almost two years it was nice to see her working again.

* * *

Jesse put all of his anxiety over the talk he was going to have with Beca, following his mother's advice, into the basketball game. And it was good. It felt good. He pushed himself too much and ended up injuring his already busted shoulder but nonetheless the game really helped him deal with his anxiety.

His mother taught him how to handle his shoulder so he wouldn't have to go to the emergency room every time he hurt it. As soon as he arrived home, he headed to the kitchen to grab an ice pack and ice his shoulder while he looked for his shoulder immobilizer.

He couldn't find it so he figured he'd ask his mother because it's not really lost until his mother couldn't find it.

"Mom," he called.

"Backyard," she answered.

"I can't find my shoulder immobilizer," he was saying as he opened the door to the backyard.

"How did you hurt yourself?" she asked, looking up from the gardening pot she was working on.

"Dunking," he answered, pressing the ice pack harder as his eyes fell on the person helping his mother; Beca. He saw her car outside but it was still a surprise to see her. "It's not bad enough to go to the hospital," he assured, looking back at his mother.

"Well, try not to move it until I find the immobilizer," she told him and headed towards the house.

"Hi, Jesse," Beca awkwardly greeted once his mother entered the house.

"Hey," he said in response.

She rubbed her arm in discomfort while he looked for something to say.

"Here you go." Jesse tilted his head hearing his mother. "Go shower, you stink. And put this cream on your shoulder once you're dry." She handed him the shoulder immobilizer as well as a cream tube.

"Thanks," he smiled at her then looked at Beca. "I won't take long in the shower, don't leave," he said to which she nodded.

He skipped singing in the shower to make sure he wouldn't take long, cleaned up in record time and went downstairs.

"Honey, want some lemonade?" He heard his mother say as he walked down the stairs.

"Yeah," he answered. "Thank you," he said.

"I'm going grocery shopping, want anything apart from juice pouches and popcorn?"

He shook his head, glancing at the backyard through the opened door. "Did Bec leave?" he asked when he couldn't see her.

"No, she went to wash her hands in the bathroom," she told him. "See if she wants lemonade, too, and put the pitcher back in the fridge." She patted his uninjured shoulder and walked past him. He heard her calling his brother who was in his room and asking him the same question before she headed out.

"I got you some lemonade," he said once Beca came into the kitchen.

"Thanks," Beca accepted it from him. "I texted you a bunch of times," she said as he emptied a bag of popcorn kernels into a microwave-safe glass bowl.

"Yeah, I got them," he told her and placed a plate on the bowel before he put it in the microwave.

She texted him quite a few times while he was playing basketball, he read them after the game and decided to go see her in person instead of texting her. "I was planning to come see you 'cause we need to talk." He leaned against the counter and watched Beca put the glass she had been holding tightly on the Kitchen Island and nod.

"I meant it yesterday when I said I love you. I really do. And, I don't expect you to love me back. Don't feel pressure to say that you do too."

"Jesse, I care about you so much."

' _Fuck,'_ she realized she should have rehearsed something to say. She went to see him fully expecting to get dumped because she didn't feel as strongly about him and get over with it. Except he wasn't breaking up with her.

She actually didn't believe he was in love with her, he couldn't be. It's his first "serious" relationship and she thought he was simply experiencing puppy love. However, she wasn't going to be a dick and say it to his face. She was confident he'd realize eventually and grow out of it.

"That I know." She swallowed, feeling a lump in her throat.

"That's good enough for me," he smiled at her, relieved.

"Is it, though?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "It'd be awesome if you grew to love me just as much I love you but it's fine if you don't." He tried to shrug and regretted it.

"Just promise me you won't just continue to date me out of pity." Jesse stepped closer to her. "If you want to break up then let's just end things now." It was really hard to get the words but he took his mother's words to heart knowing she had a point.

"I don't want to break up, Jesse. I really like being with you."

"Then I guess we're good." He wrapped an arm around her and hugged her.

"What are you going to watch?" she asked, pulling her head back.

"I haven't decided yet," he answered. "I'm thinking something spooky," he told her. "Please resist the urge to make jokes and ruin the movie."

"But that's the only way I can enjoy a horror movie." She pouted. He laughed and kissed her and only broke the kiss turned make out to pull the popcorn from the microwave.

She carried the lemonade to the living room while he held the popcorn bowl. They picked a Black Mirror episode to watch on Netflix and Beca enjoyed it without having to make fun of it.

"How did your sleepover go?" he asked as they lounged on the couch after finishing the episode.

"Pretty okay, I guess," she answered, her eyes were on her cell phone.

He peeked his head to see what she was doing. "Who's trying to slide into my girl's DMs?" he asked seeing that she was checking her Direct Messages on Instagram.

"People I don't know," she told him while rejecting the messaging requests. He rested his chin on her shoulder.

"You follow Jake?" he said once she finished cleaning her DMs and went to her home page. "Didn't know you're close."

"We're not _close._ " She double tapped on the picture Jake had just posted.

"You're liking-Instagram-posts close," he mumbled.

"Okay, what's going on here?" she asked as she tilted her head to look at him.

"Nothing." He sat up and grabbed the remote control and began looking through channels.

She eyed him for a few seconds before it hit her, he was jealous. The way he acted at the hospital after she told him she was talking to Jake made sense. She didn't know if she should tease him or assure him he had nothing to worry about.

"How's your shoulder doing?" she asked, locking her phone.

"Better," he answered after trying to move it and not feeling as much pain as he did earlier.

"Was the game worth hurting yourself? Did you win?" she wondered.

"Not everything is about winning, Becs," he reminded his competitive girlfriend. "But, yeah, we did."

She leaned against him and it wasn't long until he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.

"Mom texted me to tell me to get takeout for dinner because she's going to this Italian restaurant with Gerard," she mentioned and watch him look away from the TV and at her while she played with his t-shirt.

"Are you doing anything this evening?" she asked.

He shook his head and leaned in when she glanced down at his lips then felt her hand, cupping his cheek and pulling him closer as they kissed and eventually bringing down as she laid on her back.

He thought once they had intercourse that they'd stop being all over each other. Nope, he wanted her even more than he did before and had to remind himself that they were in the living room where anyone could walk in on them.

"I think you know what you're doing this evening," she breathlessly said while running her fingers through his hair when he pulled away.

"I do," he agreed, pecking her lips. "We're gonna make pizza," he told her and chuckled at the confused look on her face. "We need energy for sexy time, Bec." He grinned at the glare she gave him.

Hearing a car pull over in the driveway, Jesse pushed himself up so they wouldn't get caught in a comprising position.

"Let's go buy the stuff we'll need for the pizza we're making."

"Dude, we can just order pizza," she was saying as she took his hand and sat up.

"No, it's more special if we make it ourselves… it's like making a baby, you put effort into the making of it then you have to wait before you get to meet your creation." He paused. "And eat it, which would be really messed up but who am I to judge."

"That is the worst analogy I've ever heard," she said after staring at him for a few seconds before she looked away from him and at her phone when it chimed with a text.

"What is it?" Jesse asked when Beca's face hardened as she checked the text she received.

"Grandpa got into a car accident and mom is catching the first plane to Delaware to go see him," she informed not looking up from the phone when she did she stood up. "Rain check on the pizza, I have to go give mom a ride to the airport."

"Wait, let me go with you." He stood up as well.

* * *

Jesse was planning on stealing the playlist of mashups Beca had picked for the birthday gig, the music was on fire. She was talented beyond belief and he didn't doubt she'd make it big producing records. He had no idea how she could do it— she explained it to him once and he was fascinated because even if he did find songs that had the same chord progression he couldn't pull off what she could.

"Hey, Jesse," Beca called Jesse who was sitting quietly beside her as she worked, she saw that he was on his phone playing some game, elbow on his thigh and cheek against the palm of his hand.

"Yeah?" he answered and looked up away his phone.

"Who's that?" she asked as she subtly nodded at a girl that was looking at them, she figured he'd know her because the girl throwing the party went to his high school and he told her he knew most people in the house.

He inhaled deeply and answered, "That's Cecily. She's the girl I almost lost my virginity to," he informed.

She glanced at the girl, again.

Olive-skinned, nicely curled shoulder length brown hair, white t-shirt with ' _J'adore'_ printed on it in red tucked into a high waist denim skirt, and just the right amount of makeup to keep her look simple.

She found her cute.

"Did you, like, date?" she leaned over to ask mere minutes later. She was curious, nothing more.

"Who?" He looked up.

"You and Cecily."

"Date is a strong word," he said imitating her.

"It's a verb, in this case, asshole," she said while slapping his shoulder, making him laugh. "So, did you?"

"No," he told her. "We had classes together and were kinda friends but we stop hanging out after you know what."

"And she's the one that stopped talking to you, right?" she checked.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Why are you suddenly interested?"

"No particular reason," she said in response and pulled her phone from her pocket feeling it vibrate. She rolled her eyes seeing that it was her father. She rejected the call because the music was too loud and texted him why she couldn't pick up.

She wouldn't have told him about the gig if she wasn't staying with him until her mother was back in town. Her grandfather's condition wasn't critical so she hoped her mother would be back home soon, she didn't for how long she could tolerate Sheila.

He texted her back telling her to check the oven for dinner once she got home because he and Sheila would be asleep by the time she got home.

She found it weird that he didn't straight up say no to her DJing from 7:00 pm to 12:00 am and her guess was that at least she was getting paid. Also, he had to maintain a somewhat good relationship with her until he got married before they could go back to ignoring each other and occasionally hanging out.

"Excuse me." Beca looked up from her phone hearing an unfamiliar voice shout over the music to find Cecily standing on the other side of the booth. "Could you play something that isn't a remix?" she requested.

"Sure," Beca nodded. "Got a particular request?" she wondered.

"Justin Bieber's song Despacito," she requested.

"Okay," Beca nodded. "FYI, that's not his song, he's featured in the _remix_." She watched Cecily tilt her head to look at Jesse.

"Hi, Jesse," her smile widened when he looked up.

He waved at her and looked back at his phone too invested in the game he was playing.

"Got another request?" Beca asked as she looked up the Despacito remix on Spotify and saw that Cecily was still standing in front of the booth.

"You're good at this," Cecily said instead of answering Beca.

"Thanks." Beca smiled politely at her.

"Is there a way I could get in touch with you to book you for a party?"

"You can find me on Instagram under the username: becamitchell, that's Beca with one c," Beca said. She knew an e-mail would have been more professional but she wasn't an actual DJ. She wasn't opposed to doing gigs but it wasn't really her thing. "Just send me a Direct Message."

"Beca Mitchell, one c, got it," Cecily nodded. "Cecily Giuliani," she introduced herself.

' _Italian. Explains the skin complexion,'_ Beca thought to herself.

"Do you mind if I asked Jesse to dance with me? He's got great moves and could keep up."

Beca didn't know how to reply to the girl because she wasn't sure if Cecily was hitting on her boyfriend or she was overthinking it and luckily didn't have to give an answer because of the power outage that occurred.

Well, the blackout sucked because it ruined the birthday party.

Phones were quickly used as flashlights to light up the house.

"Do we leave now?" Jesse asked as he held Beca's gaze.

"They paid me for five hours." She shrugged then checked the time to see that it was barely ten pm. She didn't want to go home yet because going home meant interacting with Sheila.

"Power might come back," she added.

People started to leave shortly after the blackout and Beca felt bad for the hostess.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at Jesse. "Do you know the words Despacito's remix, you know the one with Justin Bieber?" she asked, assuming he knew the song because WHO DIDN'T? The song was everywhere.

He nodded. "The Spanish parts not very well, though."

"Sing it when I tell you," she requested. "Humor me, babe." She rubbed his arm when he looked at her weirdly.

She began drumming the beat to Ed Sheeran's Shape of You on the table then nodded for him to start singing.

His voice caught the attention of the people in the dimly lit room, feeling confident he sang loudly while looking at Beca waiting for her tell him when to stop because his Spanish was really bad and he didn't want to ruin the song.

She didn't stop him, she joined in singing Shape of you once he got to the chorus. He sang with more confidence when some of the attendees joined them.

Beca stopped drumming the beat and got up from her seat to stomp the beat with her foot while clapping and the rest followed in tow as they sang along to the chorus of Despacito—well, some sang while the rest butchered it.

Once the song ended Beca turned to Jesse and told him to sing Rihanna's Umbrella next and he wondered how many mashups she could make up on the spot.

She made four mashups and all of them were entertaining and kept people from leaving early due to the blackout.

Jesse knew she would have done more if the power didn't come back when it did.

His voice was good and he was aware of it but it was obvious who the star of the show they pulled off was.

"Thank you so much for what you did," the hostess, Erin, thanked Beca for the nth time once the party officially ended and Beca was gathering her equipment.

"Here," she said and held a couple of 50$ bills towards Beca.

"Your brother already paid me," Beca told her and straightened up.

"I know, this is for saving the party," she beamed.

"Well, thank you," Beca said, accepting the extra 100 bucks and planning to split it with Jesse because she couldn't have pulled it off without him.

"Here's your share," Beca extended a 50$ bill towards Jesse when he came back into the room having finished placing the speakers Beca borrowed from Luke in the car—Jesse realized when Beca told him that Luke gave her the loudspeakers _for free_ that her former boss had a soft spot for her despite the fact that she no longer worked for him.

"For carrying your stuff?" He frowned.

"Erin gave me a hundred bucks for the singing since it wasn't part of the deal," she informed. When he didn't take it she stuffed it in his back pocket. "You earned it." She grabbed his butt cheek making him jump.

"Jesse," she called as they carried the rest of her stuff, heading towards the front door.

He tilted his head to look at her.

"Come close we're taking a picture," she told him while checking how she looked using the front camera.

He threw an arm around her shoulder and rested his head against hers while looking at the camera.

"Let's take one more," he told her after she snapped the picture then placed a forceful kiss on her neck while she took the second picture.

"Dude, you ruined it." She elbowed him, laughing. He grinned against her neck before he looked up and checked the picture she claimed he ruined.

"Looks fine to me," he said after examining the photo: it was a little blurry but her reaction was priceless: it was rare for Beca effing Mitchel to laugh in a picture. "You should post it on Instagram with the caption: he ruined a good picture. You'll see how wrong you are from the comments you'll get."

"I don't need people to tell me you ruined it," she leaned against him as they walked towards her car. "But I'll post it to humor you."

She was planning on posting a picture with him anyway and it wasn't because she saw that Cecily had started following her. She really didn't care about that girl and wasn't trying to make a statement or anything at all, _obviously_.

* * *

AN: Songs mentioned: THE MOST OVERPLAYED SONGS THIS YEAR, YOU DON'T NEED ME TO MENTION THEM, & Umbrella by god.


	15. Chapter 15

"This sucks," Jesse mumbled as they cuddled on Beca's bed, watching SNL sketches on YouTube.

"Well, no one is forcing to stay."

"Not _this_. This is awesome." He brought her closer to him. "Sucks that it won't be always like this," he mumbled, burying his face in her hair. "Soon your mother will come home and will never have this much privacy."

"I don't think she's coming home anytime soon," she sighed.

"I thought you said your grandfather is okay?" He pulled his head to look at her.

"Yeah, he's recovering alright," she nodded. "Last time I talked to mom she told me she's hanging out with her friends from high school. She's having fun there, why the rush to come home?"

"Well, that's nice." Jesse placed a kiss on her temple.

"I'm bored," Beca told him as she closed the lid of her laptop once the sketch they were watching ended.

"Well, what do you wanna do?" he asked. "Oh, wait, I know what you should do," he quickly added and sat up.

"Go on," she said in anticipation of whatever brilliant idea he had.

"Try on the dresses you bought," he suggested.

"I really thought you actually had an idea." She threw a pillow at him before she grabbed her laptop and got up.

"I'm serious." He put the pillow on his lap and leaned against the headboard. "I don't think I've ever seen you in a dress." He regretted not tagging along when Beca and Chloe went shopping for dresses.

"You'll see me in a dress this weekend," she told him as she placed her laptop on her desk.

"What if I die before the weekend and never get to see you in a dress?" He crossed his legs at the ankle.

"That's dark, man," she frowned, hopping on her desk chair.

"It's possible." He shrugged. "Please." He gave her puppy eyes and pouted.

Beca rolled her eyes and sighed, "Fine."

Jesse tried not to grin as he watched her get up. "Thanks, Bec." He brought the pillow to his face. "Just tell me when you're done," his voice was muffled but audible.

"Why do you have a pillow on your face?" she asked, glancing at him as she pulled one of the two dresses she bought.

"Because doing a jumpcut to when you're in the dress isn't doable," he replied.

"You're fucking weird, man," she said in response.

"Just put it on, Beca," he replied.

"Okay, I'm wearing this one for the rehearsal dinner," she told him after she wore the first dress.

He removed the pillow and eyed Beca in her short pale pink dress. "Damn," he said under his breath before he hopped off the bed. "It's pink," he stated.

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"Nope," he shook his head. "It's just that I don't remember ever seeing you in a light color, it's odd in a good way." Taking her hand, he spun her around.

"Well, Chloe said I should wear something light since it's a summer wedding because if I went wearing a dark outfit I'll probably be the only one. I don't want that, I want to blend in and get as minimum attention as possible." He nodded at her reasoning.

The dress while short, lacy in the torso area and showed skin was also safe to be worn at her father's wedding and not get her undesirable attention.

"You look like a Disney princess," he said after getting an eyeful of the flowery details on the lace. "You do!" he insisted once she rolled her eyes. "You have the voice to be a Disney princess, too." He let go of her hand to wrap his arms around her waist. "You'll be the first alternative bad ass Disney princess." He grinned when she jabbed at his chest.

"I don't suppose you pick this yourself," he said.

"Chloe said it looks good on me so I got it." She shrugged. "Mentioned something about how I should only wear dresses that have a waist."

"I see her point," he agreed, holding her tiny waist that the dress hugged really well. "I personally think you can rock anything you wear," he added. "And look even better without anything on, to be completely honest."

"Why does ninety percent of shit that comes out of your mouth have to be clichés?" she asked.

"Why can't you just take a compliment?" he asked back, moving one of his hands to the small of her back and pressed her against him, leaning down when she rested her hands on his shoulder and pulled him towards her and kissing her.

He walked backward until he hit the bed then helped her take off the dress when she mumbled something about ruining it before he sat down on the bed.

She tossed the dress on her desk chair and climbed on his lap, tugging at his t-shirt the moment her lips met his.

"Don't give me hickeys." He heard her say and nodded while feeling her fingers through his hair as he rolled them so he was on top.

Beca received a fair amount of teasing from her friend over the hickeys on her neck that he had given her which didn't really bother her but the fact his dad noticed the bruise on her neck and asked about it then changed the subject when his wife cleared her throat mortified her and she almost swore off ever hanging out at the Swansons' house.

* * *

"You didn't bring any, did you?" Beca asked, resting her weight on her elbow to lift herself enough to see Jesse who had been looking in the pockets of jeans for quite some time and who she could hear cussing under his breath.

"I must've dropped it on the way here," he mumbled, tossing his jeans on the floor of the room.

She sighed and sat up.

"Hey, we could still do other stuff," he said when she grabbed her panties as well as his t-shirt from the floor and wore them.

"We have been doing other stuff for a while now," she said as she pulled the t-shirt over her head. Foreplay was fun but she wanted more. "I'm gonna go check for condoms in mom's bedroom," she told him as she got up.

Having her mother's house to herself was probably the only reason she survived living under the same roof as Bridezilla also known as Sheila soon-to-be-Mitchell so far. She could fool around with Jesse and not worry about getting ambushed.

Beca found a pack of condoms in the second drawer of the nightstand in her mother's room and memorized the brand so she'd later buy and replace the ones she took. She frowned at the prescription vials in the drawer. She looked through them out of curiosity and failed to recognize the drugs prescribed to her mother.

"Find any?" Jesse asked, joining her in the room.

"Yeah," she answered, putting the meds back in the drawer and planning to get back to them later.

She chuckled when he hovered on top of her after he picked her up only to toss her on the bed. "Not here, nerd." She shook her head, pulling away from him when he leaned in for a kiss. "Not where my mother sleeps."

"Fine." He got up and pulled her with him.

* * *

"Hey, Chloe," Jesse said picking up as he rubbed his eyes. "Bec is cooperating, I hope?" He smiled a little to himself, knowing that Beca threatened to cut her hair while she slept if Chloe messed with her look while helping her with her makeup and hair for the wedding.

"She's hasn't shown up, yet," Chloe informed. "I thought she was with you, that's why I called you. Her phone goes straight to voicemail."

"She's not," he yawned. "You don't think she's hiding out, do you?" he wondered.

"I don't know. Maybe she just overslept."

Beca wanted nothing to do with the wedding, he wouldn't be very surprised if Beca decided to disappear for the day so she'd miss it even though he knew how unlikely she'd do it.

"I'll go over to her dad's house and wake her up if she's still in bed," he said as he kicked his cover aside and got up, stretching.

She wasn't at her father's house. He didn't have to get inside the house to know, her missing car was enough evidence, but he went anyway and was greeted by Dr. Mitchell himself who told him Beca left early.

He let Chloe know and the redhead began to panic. He didn't think Beca would pull such stunt mainly because she showed no sign. Yes, she wasn't thrilled about attending the wedding but she wasn't being dramatic about it.

Chloe suggested looking for Beca at her old house so he went there.

She wasn't there.

"Did she say anything to you?" Chloe asked as she handed Jesse a bottle of water then sat on the porch of her house next to him.

He shook his head, drinking. "Nope." She had been a little too thoughtful but he assumed she just needed time to wrap her mind about her father getting married to a woman she didn't like.

"I should have known something was wrong when she agreed to the heels," Chloe mumbled to herself and Jesse founded it hard not to chuckle.

"I'm pretty she agreed just so you'd leave her alone, Chlo," he told the redhead.

"Bec looks good in heels," Chloe defended her persistence. "Wait, is that Jacob?" she mumbled in surprised. "What is he doing here?"

Jesse looked up and saw the boy climb out of a pickup truck.

"I think he's here to see, Beca," Jesse answered and Chloe frowned at the irritated tone in his voice.

"No one is home," Chloe spoke loudly when she and Jesse saw Jacob knock on the front door of her next door neighbor and best friend.

"Oh, Chloe, hey, I didn't see you there," Jacob said as he stepped back to look at her. "Hey, Jesse," he smiled at Jesse seeing him.

"This is where Beca lives, right?" he checked.

"Yeah," Jesse was the one to answer. "What do you want with her?" he questioned.

"I just wanted to check on her," he was saying as he made his way to the porch where Jesse and Chloe sat. "She took off before I could see if she's hurt," he told them.

"Hurt?" Jesse frowned as he eyed Jacob carefully once he got close enough, he looked like he'd been a fight not very long ago.

"She broke a fight," he exhaled, scratching the back of his neck. "Todd and I got in a fight and she happened to be around."

"Please tell me his nose is fine," Chloe interrupted, knowing Beca's history with Todd and broken noses.

"She punched him but not on the nose. I just want to see if her hand is okay, she left before I could." He was worried she fractured fingers because she punched she threw left her in as much pain as it left Todd.

"How long ago did you see Beca and where?" Jesse asked.

"Less than an hour," he replied. "At a playground on the other side of town, I don't know the name of the street it's on."

"Did she seem okay?" Chloe wondered.

"She seemed… _angry_ ," Jacob said with a shrug.

"Well, nothing new there," Chloe sighed. "Should we go look around in that area?" She tilted her head to look at Jesse was looking ahead of him.

"That won't be necessary," he said and got up.

Chloe got up as well when she saw Beca pull over in the driveway of her mother's house.

"Hi," Beca greeted, looking at the three after stepping out of her car.

"Are you okay?" Jacob asked, he Chloe and Jesse approaching the small brunette.

"Um, yeah," she replied casually with a shrug.

Jesse eyed her from her to toe and could tell that what she said was a big fat lie. "That doesn't look okay," he mumbled nodding at her swollen hand.

"It'll be," she said, moving her fingers with difficulty. "What's up, Jake?" she wanted to know why he came over.

"I just want to check on you," he replied. "That was a really strong punch you threw," he recalled. "I thought I saw involuntary tears in your eyes."

"I'm fine," she assured and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Well, great," he said and stepped closer to her.

Jesse felt his blood boil in his veins when he saw Jacob not only hug Beca but also whisper something into her ear before he left.

"Where were you?" he asked, following Beca into the house. "We've been trying to reach you all morning."

"I forgot to charge my phone," she told him and began making her way to the stairs.

"I went over to your dad's house, he said you left really early."

"I had some stuff to sort out," she vaguely answered.

"Did the stuff include punching Todd or you just couldn't help going to Jake's rescue? He's a big boy, he can handle himself."

She stopped climbing the stairs and rubbed her eyes. "Jesse, I'm not in the mood to roll with your jealousy," she sighed, meeting his gaze for a second before she continued walking up the stairs.

"Right, you're in a 'sorting out some stuff and punch people' kind of mood." He nodded to himself.

"Okay," Chloe jumped in before Beca could respond. "You're not gonna fight," she said, looking between them. "You're taking a walk and not coming back until you're normal again." she pointed at Jesse. "And you," she sighed tilting her head to look at Beca. "We gotta figure out a way to cover up your swollen hand, it will give you the bad kind of attention at the wedding."

"Like I care anymore," Beca mumbled as she continued climbing the stairs.

"I'm sorry, did I stutter?" Chloe asked when she looked back at Jesse and found him looking at the stairs.

"Fine," he muttered and turned on his heels.

* * *

He didn't get too far, he, in fact, didn't didn't leave the porch. Sitting alone to his thoughts made him realize how much of a jealous ass he was and that he owed Beca an apology.

He didn't know what it was like to go through what she was going through. He couldn't imagine how it'd be like if he had to attend his father's wedding not only to a woman that wasn't his mother but also to a woman he hardly tolerated.

Beca would talk to him sometimes about her dysfunctional family but usually kept to herself. He'd never push her to talk about her family because it was a topic that made her the most uncomfortable so he stirred away from.

He wondered if taking out her frustrations on Todd helped her sort out the stuff she was going through and decided he should go and offer to listen if she wanted to talk which was very unlikely.

"Where is she?" Jesse asked when he walked into Beca's bedroom only to find Chloe.

Chloe's answer was to point at the en-suite bathroom. "She's been there for like half an hour now," she whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" he frowned.

"Because she thinks I can't hear her," she continued to whisper.

He was confused for a second before he could hear what sounded like choking on tears coming from the bathroom barely muffled by the shower. He felt his heart ache at the sound of his tough girlfriend crying in the bathroom and wanted nothing more than to go comfort her.

"No," Chloe said, pulling him by the arm when he tried to go the bathroom and making him leave the room with her.

"But she's crying, Chloe. She's crying over her father's wedding. Beca never cries over anything."

"Exactly." Chloe sighed. "Cmon, let's go figure out what we're having for lunch. Something that would cheer Becs up like Happy Meal or something."

"I know what to get her," he said in response.

* * *

Jesse peeked his head into the room. "Becs, I come bearing lunch." He asked Chloe to give him a few minutes alone with Beca and, after some initial hesitation, the redhead agreed.

"Thanks," she said, sniffling as she wore her sweatpants.

She looked so vulnerable. He wasn't used to seeing her like that. It was hard not to just suffocate her with his hugs until she was herself again.

He smiled a little noting the small smile that formed on her lips when she saw what he got her.

"Where's Chloe?" she asked accepting the plate and making her way to her desk to sit.

"Downstairs," he told her, making his way to the desk as well.

Beca picked up the infamous pizza-sandwich he liked so much and that she usually made satire jokes about and compared to calzones.

She made none this time.

She instantly looked away from him when he met gaze not wanting him to notice that she had been crying despite knowing how obvious it was.

He didn't ask why she had puffy eyes and she appreciated it.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he began to apologize. "I was such an insensitive jerk to you," he sighed.

"Yeah, you were," she agreed. "But I forgive you."

He grabbed the other pizza-sandwich on the plate and brought it to his mouth. They ate in a comfortable silence until she spoke, "Shouldn't you go home and get ready?" she asked, he was going with her to her father's wedding.

"Sorry, am I bothering you with my presence?" he questioned in mock-shock.

"I would say bothering me." She shrugged, sniffling. "But I need to get ready in time otherwise Chloe will freak out on me," she deadpanned and cleaned her hands, having finished eating.

"Then I guess, I'm out." He straightened up.

Jesse reached over and pulled her into his embrace, hugging her tightly when she hugged him back.

He wanted to say comforting things but knew it wasn't how she rolled, words didn't do it for her, so he kept his mouth shut.

"I'll tell my parents I'm spending the night at Donald's and come over," he told her, cupping her face once she broke the hug. She was supposed to be sleeping over at Chloe since by the end of the day both of her parents would be out of town and he knew how easy it was to get into her bedroom from Chloe's bedroom thanks to the tree between the two houses.

"We'll watch a bunch of horror movies and eat a lot of popcorn."

She made pretty funny jokes when they'd watch horror movies in particular, and while she ruined the horror genre for him he now couldn't watch a horror movie without her because her commentary was priceless.

"Okay," she let out a sigh and leaned up for a kiss. "You're leaving now," she said breaking the kiss before things got steamy.

He managed to steal another kiss from her before he left.

* * *

AN: Thoughts?


	16. Chapter 16

AN: thanks for taking some time to check the trash I put out for the world to read, I just noticed that so far this story has been clicked on more than 6k times which is super weird considering my infrequent updates, so ya thanks a bunch.

* * *

"I gotta say, Becs, that bandage is next level in the accessories department," Jesse noted once Beca stepped out of the house. Beca told him he could come in but he lived for clichés and wanted to wait outside.

He thought he'd give her a break and not praise the way she looked because his compliments were cheesy and Beca could do without them.

The dress was creamy white, short, and had black polka dot and a thin black waistband. She looked really good and Chloe did amazing curling her hair just enough to make it wavy and toning the angry makeup down a little. He didn't expect Beca to compromise at all with the way she wore her makeup but she did—don't get him wrong her makeup was heavy but it wasn't _as heavy_ as she'd usually wear it.

She rolled eyes at him. "I feel like a boxer with this wrapped around my hand. Wanna know how it feels like to have a fist on your pretty face? I mean it's throbbing but I think I can do some damage." She glanced at her hand that Chloe suggested she wrapped in a bandage and say she hurt it when the door closed on her fingers because it was better than saying she punched a boy she had history injuring directly and indirectly when people asked about it.

"I prefer you'd do other things to my face, Million Dollar Baby." He smirked suggestively at her.

"Picture time," Chloe exclaimed, coming out of the house.

Jesse, who was leaning against Beca's car, paced towards the porch and wrapped his arm around Beca's waist.

"Okay, let's do one more," Chloe told them after taking a photo. "And, Beca, please, try to not look like you're scheming a murder."

Beca should have seen it coming when Jesse pressed his lips against her neck, making her laugh. It was out of her hand, that spot was damn ticklish, and he was making a habit out of pulling this stunt... so yeah, she should have seen it coming.

"Stop doing that," she said, jabbing his chest out and wincing.

"I'll stop trying to make you laugh in pictures when you actually smile like you mean it in pictures." He took her bandaged hand in his and held it to avoid getting hit again. "Caught any good ones?" he asked Chloe as he rubbed his thumb against Beca's waist.

"Yep," she answered. Her favorite was the blurry one where Beca was laughing and his head was in her neck.

"I trust you'd send 'em to me later," he said to the redhead.

"Already on it," she informed.

"We should head out," Beca spoke after she checked the time.

"The keys, Madame?" He extended his hand. He begged her to let him drive her car to the church where the wedding was taking place and she agreed after he promised on his fat cat's life that he'd be extremely careful. "Thank you." He gripped her car keys once she dropped them in his hand then rushed to the car to unlock the passenger door.

"What happened to blending in?" he asked as he started the car.

"What do you mean?" she questioned. "Is the makeup too much?" she asked, pulling the rearview mirror towards her to check how her face looked.

"No, raccoon eyes are fine." He received a well-deserved punch to the gut that probably hurt her more than it hurt him given the current state of her hand. "Those converse you're wearing will turn some heads." He nodded at her white Chuck Taylor All Star converse then readjusted the rearview mirror. "I think it's a nice, you tiny alt rebel," he teased, reaching and pinching her cheek.

She slapped his hand away. "I'm not trying to make any statement. I just don't think this occasion is worth putting my feet through the pain."

* * *

Jesse tried to be subtle as he watched Beca during the wedding ceremony, he had never seen a better poker face in his life.

She only looked away when Jesse squeezed her thigh hearing her sigh once her father kissed the new Mrs. Mitchell. She smiled at him curtly and looked back ahead of her.

"Where did you get that?" Jesse asked when Beca pulled a hipflask from her clutch in a somewhat remote spot at the reception venue which was an outdoors one.

"I'm resourceful." She shrugged before she gulped down some of the liquor.

"What is it?" he wondered when she held it his way while wincing at the liquor burning down her throat.

"Vodka," she answered.

He took it from her and took a hesitant sip. "Hate it," he managed to say after swallowing.

"Beca, there you are," the wedding planner said as she approached the two teenagers.

Beca quickly took the hipflask from Jesse and put in her clutch before the wedding planner, Naomi, got to them.

"What's up?" Beca asked, eyeing the stressed-out woman.

"Your father is asking for you," Naomi answered.

"Did he tell you what wants from me?" Beca asked, keeping a polite smile on her lips as she spoke.

"No," Naomi replied. "He just asked for you."

"Okay, I'll go see him in a minute," Beca said to which Naomi nodded.

"What do you think he wants?" Jesse asked watching Beca drop the fake smile.

"Socialize and not make him look bad probably." She shrugged and tiptoed. "Can you smell Vodka?"

He sniffed her then shook his head. "Don't speak if you're really close to his face." He placed a peck on her lips.

"Dad is basically a giant, I'm never close to his face," she replied, falling back on her heels.

"What about when you hug or, like, kiss on the cheek?" He frowned when she let out a small laugh and took his hand, walking him with her.

She spotted her father, sitting at a table that wasn't the bridal table, and went to him.

"Dad, you wanted to see me?" she said as she got closer to the table.

"Yes." He tilted his head and smiled warmly at his only daughter who returned a less than warm smile while tightly gripping Jesse's hand. "Jesse," he nodded at the boy who smiled weakly due to the death grip Beca had on his hand.

"I want you to meet good friends and colleagues, this is professor Greg Mayfair, Jackson's father," Dr. Mitchell said. "Beca, you remember Jackson, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded. Jackson one of the two workers that helped renew the cabin and who was a student of her father as well as the son of one of his colleagues.

"He teaches creative writing at BU," Dr. Mitchell informed.

"Pleasure meeting you, sir," she politely greeted the man.

"Sweetheart, you can drop the formalities I'm not your professor yet, call me Uncle Greg," he laughed.

"Okay," she forced the smile to stay despite the uneasiness she felt at his use of 'yet'. "Uncle Greg."

She glanced at the other people at the table. "This Mrs. Mayfair, Nancy," her father continued to introduce, "she teaches Mathematics at Barden and was telling me about The Rice University Mathematics Tournament. Thought it might interest you."

"You father said us you excel at mathematics," the woman spoke, meeting Beca's gaze.

"Uh, I'm just okay at it," Beca said in response.

"Well, kiddo, your report card disagrees with you," Dr. Mitchell proudly said.

She didn't want to brag but yeah math's her bitch.

"The RMT is an event for high school students from schools in the southern states," Nancy went on to say. "You should participate, it'll be fun."

' _Nah, I'm good,'_ Beca wanted to say. Instead, she widened her smile, "I'll think about it."

"Your father also says you inherited your mother's writing skills," Greg spoke and Beca wanted to roll her eyes.

She wrote a few shitty short stories which were arguably good since she could barely hold a pen back then. Her age's a good enough excuse for how poorly written they were because what she lacked in grammar and vocabulary she made up for in imagination.

Beca was a little annoyed that her father chose to talk about her mediocre stories from her childhood and her math grades and not mention what she really enjoyed and truly excelled at; music.

Besides it wasn't just the writing she inherited from her mother, which was itself debatable since she hadn't written anything in years, she also had a decent singing voice like her mother.

It annoyed her that he completely neglected music but she made sure not show it. She instead nodded along and kept the smile that made her face hurt as her father continue introducing her to his colleagues.

"What was that all about?" Jesse mumbled as he and Beca walked away after she excused herself and dragged him with her.

"Don't know, don't care," Beca deadpanned, pulling the hipflask once they were in a safe place behind a tree.

He frowned at the way she was chugging down the strong liquor as if it were water then took it from her.

"This will get you drunk in no time." He closed it.

"Yeah, no shit." She rolled her eyes and tried to grab it from him.

"How about to no?" He grimaced at the glare she gave him.

Beca once told him that she had never gotten drunk in her life because she was feared losing control. Hearing her tell him she wanted to get drunk was worrisome.

"Do you honestly think it's a good idea to lose control here?" he asked, he was ready to give her the hipflask if she said yes and meant it.

He slowly pulled her towards and hugged her when she shook her head, wishing she'd just vent to him about how much she hated being at the wedding and how she'd rather be anywhere else instead of keeping it all to herself.

Jesse found himself nodding along to Aha's Take On Me when it started playing and couldn't help but sing once it got to the chorus.

" _Take on me, (take on me). Take me on, (take on me). I'll be gone. In a day or two_ —Jesus, that's high." He shook his head once the singer went too high. "I can never go that high."

"Then don't, ears don't have to bleed that way." Beca patted his chest, breaking the hug.

She rolled her eyes when he tried to get her to dance with him. "I'm really not in the mood," she told him.

He knew she wanted to go crawl under her bed and isolate herself from everything and he really wanted to make her feel slightly better.

"You're never in the mood to dance," he told her and held her hand as he stopped dancing. "Are you in the mood for some cake?" he asked.

"I could have some." She shrugged.

* * *

Jesse was pulling the glass bawl from the microwave when Chloe's father entered the house without prior notice, he hid behind the kitchen island and could hear the older man talking to the girls in the living room.

Chloe's parents, as well as Beca's, agreed to let the girls spend the night on their own with the occasional ambush from the Bales to make sure the girls weren't misbehaving and didn't have boys over which was why he was hiding.

"Shit," he muttered, hearing their voices get closer to the kitchen. He watched Beca walk around the kitchen island and put a pie on the counter and saw a small smile once she glanced at him, he knew his panicked look was the reason behind it.

"It's getting late, when are you, girls, going to bed?" Mr. Bale asked.

"Well, we just picked a movie to watch, so Beca will be asleep real soon," Chloe answered him.

"Which movie?" he wondered.

"The Breakfast Club," Beca was the one to answer.

"That film is John Hughes's finest work," the man said and Jesse decided he liked him. "Well, have fun. And remember to lock the doors and windows."

"The coast is clear." Jesse heard Chloe say a minute or so after her father had left then took Beca's hand when she extended it to help him stand up.

"You suck at hiding," Beca said as he put the bowl on the kitchen island.

"What are you talking about? I'm smoother than a ninja, Becs," he replied sarcastically to which she rolled her eyes before she went and opened a drawer.

"Want some apple pie?" she asked.

"Sure," he answered, leaning against the kitchen island.

"Chloe, do you want some?" Beca called loudly.

"Just a little," the redhead said from her spot on the couch.

Jesse looked around for plates and put them on the counter.

"Why are you adding sugar? It's sweet enough already, Jesse." Beca frowned when she watched Jesse spray sugar on the slice she cut for him.

"These are tears, Bec, the pie is crying because of the violently stabbing it just suffered." He smiled at the eye roll he got. "On a serious note, though, be a little gentle with it, you might hurt yourself." He rested a hand on the counter.

She shrugged, putting the knife aside and grabbing the plates on which she put the slices she had cut for herself and Chloe.

"When do you think your parents will go to bed?" Beca asked Chloe as she walked towards the living room while Jesse trailed behind her.

"In half an hour tops," Chloe replied. "They won't come again, though," she confidently said.

"You really think so?" Beca wondered, putting the plates down.

"Uh huh." Chloe nodded.

"Good," Beca said and left the room, returning with two bottles of wine and three empty glasses.

* * *

Unlike what they assumed, Beca didn't fall asleep first. Chloe was out forty-five minutes into the movie but the redhead had valid excuses for falling asleep: too much booze paired with low alcohol tolerance.

"We should wake her up and make her drink water," a buzzed Jesse mumbled after taking a look at Chloe who was curled up fast asleep on the couch.

"A little headache won't kill her," was Beca's response before she took a large gulp from the bottle directly and leaned forward to put the empty bottle on the coffee.

"Well, then we should wake her up to sleep somewhere comfortable." He placed a peck on Beca's cheek once she was leaning into his side.

Beca sighed before tilted her head and shook Chloe gently.

"Chloe, get up," Beca called when the gentle shaking didn't work and shook her harder.

"Chloe is a heavier sleeper than you," Jesse snorted. "Where's the guest room? I'll just take her to bed," he figured, sitting up.

"It's upstairs, you think you can carry her and not fall?" Beca wondered, slurring a little.

"Definitely," he nodded and got up.

"Guestroom is the room right next to mom's," Beca informed as she watched Jesse pick Chloe up bridal style.

"Got it."

Jesse had no trouble carrying Chloe up the stairs and to the guestroom. He helped her get under the covers and left the room, whistling as he walked.

"What's wrong?" he asked when he found Beca sitting with her face buried in her hands. "You feeling sick?"

"No, I'm okay," she answered, resting her elbows on her thighs and holding her head.

"I learned the hard way that holding puke back is really bad, you sure you don't feel like throwing up?" he checked, rubbing her back.

She nodded as she sat up only to get pulled into Jesse's side who then placed a peck on her cheek and shifted his attention back to the movie.

He didn't notice that Beca was crying until he heard her sniffle as the movie reached the end. "Aw, Becs, I knew you'd relate to this movie, but I didn't think it would make you cry," he was saying as he rubbed her arm.

"Bec?" He frowned when the silent crying turned into sobbing then held her tightly until she pushed him away.

"Sorry you had to see that," she mumbled, wiping her cheeks.

"Are you seriously apologizing for crying?" He was slightly drunk, there was no way he heard her wrong. "Look I know you don't want me to comfort you but let me just say that you shouldn't keep things to yourself. I can't imagine how it feels like to see your dad marry another woman but, on the bright side, he's happy, Becs. And you told me yourself that you care about his happiness."

"Dude, of course, I'm happy for dad. He can be a dick sometimes but he deserves to be happy."

"Yeah?" He was a little confused because why else would she be feeling the way she was.

"Yeah," she nodded, sniffling as she stood up.

"How long does it take to sober up?" She blew a breath and her fingers through her hair.

"Dunno," he replied, getting up and following her. "I usually just sleep it off." He frowned hearing her curse under her breath. "Why do you wanna sober up?" he asked and leaned against the kitchen counter and she poured herself a glass of water.

"I don't like how I feel right now," she mumbled, wiping the tears that just wouldn't stop falling. "I thought getting shitfaced meant feeling better." She put the glass on the kitchen counter once she drowned.

"Yeah, liquor sometimes does the opposite," he said, carefully making his way to her. "I don't think sobering up will make you feel any better, though... a hug might." He opened his arms and smiled a little when she wrapped her arms around his waist but instead of hugging him she kissed him quite passionately.

Jesse loved how forward she'd be sometimes but this wasn't one of those times so he pulled away before he could no longer will himself to do so.

"I _really_ need to feel better, Jesse," she told him when he pulled his head back as she leaned in for a kiss again once she had enough air in her lungs.

He considered urging her to just talk to him about what made her miserable then figured to let her decide when to tell him instead and took her hand, fully aware he was just going to distract her from what was bothering her and lead her to the couch.

* * *

Jesse woke up when he rolled in his sleep and eventually fell off of the couch. He rubbed his eyes as he got up and frowned noting that he was alone. He scratched his head as he looked around him then figured he'd check around the house for Beca.

"What are you doing up so early, weirdo?" he asked in a low voice as he joined her in the backyard.

"I had to throw up," she grumbled, bringing her knees closer to her chest.

"Do you feel better having puked?" he wondered as he sat on the arm of the patio chair she was sitting on.

"Not really," she replied, resting her chin on her knees.

"And you figured that the early morning breeze would help you feel better?"

"Yeah," she nodded, feeling him rub her back. "That and Advil."

"Is it working? Feeling any different?"

"I'm cold, does that feeling count as different?" she deadpanned.

He snorted. "Well, I'm hungry," he shared with her. "Do feel like eating?" he continued. "Or do you think you'll puke if you had something to eat?"

"I guess I'll have to try and see," she sighed.

"I'll make you scrambled eggs, eggs help me when I'm hungover," he was saying as they got up. "I just need to go pee first."

"Jesse," she called, getting on her feet. He hummed in response then frowned when nothing came out of her mouth. "Um, don't forget to put the toilet seat down," she finally said and wrapped her arms around herself.

"I won't," he replied and opened the back door, letting her go in first, then rushed to the bathroom.

He made a stop in the living room to wear his sweatpants before he went to the kitchen—he would have worn his t-shirt if Beca wasn't wearing it.—and found her sitting quietly on a stool.

"I hope this sits well with your stomach," Jesse said as he put the plate of scrambled eggs he made in front of Beca who hadn't uttered a word since they got inside the house.

"Thanks," she quietly thanked him and grabbed the fork he placed beside the plate.

"You welcome," he said back.

"Don't force yourself, Bec," Jesse said, noting that Beca had barely touched the eggs as he sat next to her ready to devour the bowl of cereal he had made himself.

"No, I like it," she said, bringing a forkful to her mouth and chewing it slowly.

She was hungover and wanted some quiet so Jesse figured he'd keep his mouth shut as they ate unless she made an attempt to talk.

He finished eating before she did and got up to wash the bowl as well as the pan he cooked the eggs on. Beca put the plate in the sink once she finished and grabbed a cloth to dry the pan and bowl.

Jesse couldn't help the heavy sigh he let out once he realized that Beca was staring into nothing while she absentmindedly dried the bowl. He waited until she put it down before he took her hand and made her face him.

"I'm sorry, I can't wait until you feel like talking. I can't stand seeing you like this." He shrugged. "Your ways of dealing with whatever it aren't working. So far, you've tried violence, alcohol, and sex. What's it gonna be next, drugs?" Her response was to roll her eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me, this is really serious, Bec, and I'm really worried about you… you can't just keep everything to yourself, believe it or not, talking to someone that isn't yourself can make you feel better otherwise therapists wouldn't be—"

"—Mom has cancer," she rapidly told him.

"—in business..." he trailed off.

Jesse didn't know how to respond so he just pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry," he mumbled into her hair.

"Why are you sorry? Not like it's your fault." She shrugged, pulling away and walking away.

"Blurting it out like that won't make you feel better," he carefully said, following her.

"What do you want to hear me say?" She grabbed the empty liquor bottles once she reached the living room. "Acknowledge that it fucking sucks?"

"Yes, I wanna hear that," he nodded, picking the empty glasses as well as the bowl they had popcorn in.

He frowned when she sniffled after she put the bottles in the trash.

"You know what sucks _, too_?" her voice cracked a little. "Learning about it from Gerard. She didn't even want to tell she's sick I had to trick Gerard into telling me."

Jesse placed the stuff he was holding in the sink. "What you mean you had to trick Gerard?" he questioned, stepping closer to her.

"The other day when I went to look for condoms in mom's room I found some drugs, they fix blood clotting. I looked up what causes blood clotting, not all of the causes are life-threatening." She paused, clearing her throat.

"Gerard is annoyingly curious, I knew if there's something serious going on with mom she'd tell him one way or another. I went over to his place yesterday and asked if he could take a look at the car 'cause the engine sounded weird. I made it seem like I knew what's up with mom and he was surprised that mom listened to him and told me that she has fucking cancer."

"Have you spoken to your mother?" Jesse rubbed her arm and watched her shake her head as she used his t-shirt to wipe the tears that fell on her cheeks.

"I don't get it." She shrugged. "Why would she tell him and not tell me? I know I said he'd make her tell him but doesn't mean she should keep me in the dark. I think I deserve to know."

"Maybe she's waiting until your dad got married. Have you thought about that?"

"Right, because if I didn't know she's sick I would have the time of my life celebrating Dad and the step-monster holy union," she deadpanned.

"Exactly, Becs. You didn't want to attend in the first place."

"Your point?" She sniffled, holding his gaze.

"You didn't want to be there but if you hadn't known about your mom you would have had a better time. I would have annoyed the hell out of you until you did. And you'd have a better memory of your father's wedding to look back on." He sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear. "You shouldn't be mad at your mother for not letting you know _yet._ "

"I'm not mad at her," she mumbled. "It's just that it sucks that she let fucking Gerard know before me," she grumbled.

"Well, you better get this _resentment_ out of your system before she tells you herself," he advised. "You can't blow up in her face, Bec."

"What do you think I've been trying to accomplish since yesterday?" she grumbled.

"I would mention being supportive but I'm not here to tell you things already know," he continued. "I will, however, _listen_ whenever you want to talk 'cause it won't be just hard for her," he continued.

"I don't think I can ever handle losing her, Jesse," she muttered and he hugged her firmly.

"Try not to think about that. Your main focus should be your mother and her mental wellbeing, the rest is up to doctors."

She pulled her head back just enough to see him. "What if she doesn't need me? Maybe she let Gerard know because she feels that he'd be enough."

"You're kidding, right?" He frowned when she shrugged. "Bec," he called as he wiped her cheeks. "you is smart, you is kind, you is important!"

"Why are you using improper grammar?" Beca asked in confusion. "Wait, it's from a movie, isn't it?" she questioned before he could answer her first question. "Jesse," she sighed when he nodded slowly.

"It's never a bad time to quote The Help, you'll understand once we watch it together," he said and rested his chin on her head as he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her. "Don't jump to conclusions before you hear her out, Becs," he said as he held her close to him. "And, please, don't ever compare yourself to Gerard… or anymore. You _is_ you, Becs."

"Stop," she dragged the word.

"I swear it's not a quote this time, just bad grammar," he promised and pecked her temple.

* * *

PS: I spent more time than I would usually would when figuring out ways to develop a storyline when I got to the mom falling ill part because I don't intend to make a soap opera. I wanna keep it light therefore I'd like to put a disclaimer here and say that I don't mean to offend anyone with my superficial approach to cancer in upcoming chapters.


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